The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC) is a land trust devoted to conserving and enhancing the lands and waters of Northcentral Pennsylvania to support the environmental well-being and recreational needs of local communities.
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News
By Susan Sprout It is autumn – time to find your pie marker and get baking those yummy apple pies. What! No pie marker? There is a type of plant that grows around here, commonly known as Pie Markers. The resemblance of their strangely-shaped seed capsules to the baking tools used for marking or fluting or crinkling the upper edges of pie crust is, well, … Continue reading Underfoot: Pie Marker
When a drought is finally declared the day before construction starts on a stream project, to be followed with over 3” of rain beginning only a few hours later, it makes for an interesting project. The Little Pine Creek streambank stabilization and habitat restoration project kicked off with a 2-day rain delay, and more rain throughout the week and a half long project. The deviation … Continue reading Little Pine Creek Improved
By, Susan Sprout Question: When does an oak leaf not look like an oak leaf? Answer: When it is a Shingle Oak Leaf! We’ve been taught there are two groups of oaks: white oaks whose leaves have rounded lobes on them and red oaks with sharp pointed and toothed leaves. Shingle Oak, or Quercus imbricaria, is a type of native red oak that has no … Continue reading Underfoot: SHINGLE OAK
By, Susan Sprout Well, I’ve done it again – sneaked out of the Plant Kingdom and into the Kingdom of the Fungi! And for a very good reason, too, just look at this fantastic group of Laetiporus sulphureus. Just call it Chicken of the Woods, Sulphur Shelf or Sulphur Polypore. It was a very colorful find on an extremely brownish and crunchy- dry hike to … Continue reading Underfoot: SULPHUR POLYPORE
Underfoot: NORTHERN WILD SENNA
By, Susan Sprout Northern Wild Senna is a member of the Fabaceae family, well-known as the legume or pea or bean family and having about 20,000 species in many countries. This particular species, Senna hebecarpa, is a perennial plant native to northeastern United States from the Great Lakes to Georgia. I found it growing in a field of goldenrods. Taller than I am, it was … Continue reading Underfoot: NORTHERN WILD SENNA