Does your idea of the perfect spring day outdoors involve a nature walk along a stream? Enjoy picnicking with your family on the shore of a lake or pond in your community? Then you are all primed and ready to participate in this month's EcoQuest Challenge called Water Walk which will focus on two invasive species that are associated with water: the aquatic invasive species, curly leaf pondweed, and black alder, a tree typically found nearby a water source. To participate in this month's challenge, take a look at the plant life submerged close to shore the next time you are out in a park with a water body close by. If you see a submerged aquatic plant with leaves that look a bit like lasagna noodles or bacon, then it's likely you are seeing curly leaf pondweed which typically gets a jumpstart on the growing season over native aquatic plants. As you walk along the shore of this water body, also be on the lookout for a single-stemmed tree or multi-stemmed shrub (it can grow as both!) that has both male and female catkins (flowering spikes, see picture below) and lots of raised, white bumps called lenticels. It may be an emerging invasive plant, black alder. To be fully sure it is black alder and not another type of alder, we recommend looking at the leaves that have fallen beneath the alder - if the fallen leaves are roundish, have toothed margins and have a stunted, notched tip (see photo below), then it's most likely black alder and not one of its native lookalikes like speckled alder which has pointed leaf tips (Note: look at multiple fallen leaves, not every black alder leaf has the notched tips so look around!). The catkins of black alder also tend to grow on longer stalks than native alders. To help build your ID confidence, check out this field ID video created by Invasives Species Citizen Science Coordinator, Brent Boscarino. If you think you might have come across one of the invaders during your Water Walk, let us know by posting a photo to iNaturalist and help us map the distribution of these species in our region. Are you from New York City? In addition to the LH-PRISM EcoQuest Challenge, you could also participate in New York Botanical Garden’s EcoQuest which this month focuses on non-native cherries.
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