Archives: October2009

• Euonymus alatus

  
  

  Lindsay wrote today’s entry:

  Thank you to my fellow classmate Nell Gasiewicz for snapping these pictures on our weekly plant walk.

  Commonly known as burning bush or winged euonymus for its corky “wings”, Euonymus alatus was introduced to the US from Asia around 1860 for use as an ornamental shrub. In fact, people were so taken by its striking autumn colour that highway departments and parkway planters across the northeastern United States used Euonymus alatus as a divider in hedges and as foundation plantings. By the 1960s, burning bush had escaped cultivation and is now considered an invasive species in some of these areas, crowding out and outcompeting native species in the woodlands of New Hampshire, Connecticut and Virginia, along with parts of Pennsylvania and Illinois.

  The good news for some locations, however, is that Euonymus alatus is not considered invasive in an urban context or in wet climates where the seeds are likely to rot before germinating.

• Tree “Mummies” Found, Traced Back to Viking Era

  Remarkably well-preserved pines that lived around Viking times have been discovered near a fjord in southwestern Norway, scientists say.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Most Distant Object Found; Light Pierced “Dark Age” Fog

  A brief but powerful flash of light about 13 billion light-years from Earth offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mysterious cosmic dark ages, two new studies report.