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Brown Roll-Rim
Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. This week we have the interesting, toxic, and...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 28, 20252 min read


Star Tunicate
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist, your own personal Google for information on all things natural on PEI. I recently received this...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 24, 20252 min read


Birch Polypore
Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at PEI’s fascinating fungi. We’re staying with the Polypore group for another week to...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 21, 20252 min read


Ironwood
Most people have never seen PEI’s rarest native tree in person, and some have never even heard of it. Meet the beautiful Ironwood (...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 17, 20252 min read


Maze Polypores
Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. The dry weather has made it a poor year for most...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 14, 20252 min read


Jack Pine
It may not be majestic, but it’s PEI’s rarest native conifer and has an adaptation unlike any of our other trees. Meet Jack Pine ( Pinus...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 10, 20252 min read


Dyer's Polypore
Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Today it’s the common, beautiful, and...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 7, 20252 min read


American Pelecinid Wasp
Today’s PEI animal is a good example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. This ominous-looking insect is the harmless and...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 3, 20252 min read


Cinnabar Polypore
On PEI, September means a few things: the end of summer, the start of school, and the return of Mushroom Mondays! Over the past couple of...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 31, 20252 min read


Musk Mallow
Late summer is such a wonderful time on PEI. Warm days and comfortably cool nights, water temperatures perfect for swimming, and an...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 27, 20252 min read


Cicadas
Many of PEI’s wild animals are more often heard than seen – none more so than Cicadas. Most of us immediately recognize their...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 24, 20252 min read


Milkweed
Some PEI plants are revered while others are reviled, but today’s plant is both. Meet Common Milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ). Our Island...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 20, 20253 min read


Pebbles
Too often, I hear people say that PEI is geologically dull. Sure, our bedrock is all sedimentary sandstone (except for the igneous Iron...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 17, 20253 min read


Water Arum
Have you ever run into an acquaintance you haven’t seen in a long, long time? The person looks unfamiliar at first, then something dawns,...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 13, 20252 min read


Banana Bolete
PEI’s dry summer has made for poor mushroom hunting so far. My go-to spots have yielded just a handful of edible Chanterelles and Meadow...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 10, 20252 min read


Canada Germander
The Mint Family ( Lamiaceae ) is well represented on PEI, with about 25 species known in the wild (along with a few hybrids and...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 6, 20252 min read


Heal-all
Have you noticed any purple-flowered plants in your lawn or nearby areas? On PEI, most of these – Creeping Charlie, Hemp Nettle, or...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 3, 20252 min read


Chicory
PEI’s midsummer roadsides are lined with colourful wildflowers. White, yellow, gold, pink, purple, and brown are common, but blue stands...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 30, 20252 min read


Valerian
PEI has various species of tall, white-flowered plants growing in our roadside ditches. Many are members of the Carrot Family ( Apiaceae...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 27, 20253 min read


Giant Spiders
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist, your own personal Google for information on all things natural on PEI. Apologies to my fellow...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 23, 20253 min read
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