June 17

Surprises do appear, even in your backyard.

On the side of the barn in back, the one that faces the north where shade predominates most of the day, the ferns have taken hold and are fairly well along. I pass by this area twice a day on my way from the house down to the garden and back again, and aside from the ferns and the singular mustard plant, there’s not much noteworthy that thrives here.

The Brassica (mustard) grew taller and bushier these past few weeks, its bright yellow petals giving way to the emergent seed pods characteristic of the genus. The leaves looked a little unusual, greatly lobed and deep green, different I thought than the usual jagged true leaves of the Brassica. But, I thought there are many species of them, and this one simply had the look of most.

I passed by the barn today, checking on the peppers which have barely taken hold in the cool weather of the prior week. The Brassica was still thriving, yellow flowers in bloom at the same time seed pods poked upright like small fingers pushing upward. Curiosity drove me to take another look, and I reached down to pluck a small cluster of leaves with their flower stalk to take indoors for identification.

Where the plant split easily at the branching stem, what’s this? Yellow liquid oozed out onto my fingers, turning slightly orange upon contact with the air. Strange, for Brassica has mostly clear fluids within.

I brought it in, took out the wildflower book, and found its match . . . Greater Celandine. The yellow juice was the give away, evidently popular at one time to treat warts, according to the text. The text also indicated that Celandine is fairly common in New England, particularly in moist areas like my barn side. All this time I had mistaken it for mustard. Now I know not to confuse common this with common that.