Leighton Photography & Imaging

  • Home
  • Website
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • How to Download
  • Galleries
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
90 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade flowers here in the Mercer Slough of Bellevue, Washington are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's. The berries were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • This small brown mushroom found growing mid-summer in the subalpine regions of Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains has been listed as very dangerous if not fatal.
    Deadly Cort
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • Crow poison, also known as Osceola's plume, is a beautiful but very dangerous bog plant found in the American Southeast. Until recently it was considered a member of the lily family, but now is placed in the bunchflower family alongside many other similar and poisonous plants sharing genetic similarities.  The large beauty was photographed in the Apalachicola National Forest in the Florida Panhandle, where regular natural seasonal wildfires seem to promote the growth of this and other moisture-loving plants. Word of caution: all parts of this plant are considered very dangerous, and have caused the death of many livestock animals.
    Crow Poison
  • A highly aggressive alligator lunges in a lake in Bradenton, Florida. Still slightly lean, this 8-9 foot alligator is big enough to be dangerous and will start packing on the bulk the really big gators are known for.
    Highly Aggressive Alligator
  • Looking very much like it's cousin, the infamous fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), the peach-colored fly agaric (Amanita persicina) looks virtually the same, except for instead of the vibrant red color with scaly cap it has a somewhat softer, light orange, or peach hue. Found only in the Southeastern United States stretching up to coastal New England, this forest fungus develops these beautiful large mushrooms in the fall and winter. This one was in the process of emerging from the soil on a November morning in Pensacola, Florida on the side of a nature trail.
    Peach-colored Fly Agaric
  • Looking very much like it's cousin, the infamous fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), the peach-colored fly agaric (Amanita persicina) looks virtually the same, except for instead of the vibrant red color with scaly cap it has a somewhat softer, light orange, or peach hue. Found only in the Southeastern United States stretching up to coastal New England, this forest fungus develops these beautiful large mushrooms in the fall and winter. This one was in the process of emerging from the soil on a November morning in Pensacola, Florida on the side of a nature trail.
    Peach-colored Fly Agaric
  • Looking very much like it's cousin, the infamous fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), the peach-colored fly agaric (Amanita persicina) looks virtually the same, except for instead of the vibrant red color with scaly cap it has a somewhat softer, light orange, or peach hue. Found only in the Southeastern United States stretching up to coastal New England, this forest fungus develops these beautiful large mushrooms in the fall and winter. This fully developed mushroom was spotted on a November morning in Pensacola, Florida on the side of a nature trail.
    Peach-colored Fly Agaric
  • This beautiful and delicate member of the oyster mushroom family is found throughout much of North America, most often found growing on rotting logs and stumps of hemlock trees and other conifers, such as this one growing in the Olympic National Park in the Hoh Rain Forest.
    Angel Wings
  • The tiny Mycena clavicularis growing on a moss covered log on a chilly autumn morning on the forested slopes of Mount Rainier.
    Mycena clavicularis
  • Unique to the Pacific Northwest, this attractive pale peach-colored member of the Amanita genus (a relative of the infamous fly agaric) is mostly associated with Douglas firs and other pines. This one was found in a heavily forested area near Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Forest.
    Amanita aprica
  • Deadly poisonous and sometimes fatal if eaten raw, and possibly containing carcinogens when cooked, this false morel can often be found growing alongside the highly sought after and edible true morels, proving once again we all need to be 100% certain what we are picking in the wild. This one was found in a heavily forested area near Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Forest.
    Gyromitra esculenta.jpg
  • With the reputation of being the plant that has killed more people in the Pacific Northwest than any other plant ever will, the death camas is a rather plain-looking, white-flowered member of the bunchflower family that often grows in and among the historically significant common camas, which has been used as a food source for centuries, if not millennia. The corm (think of something similar to a tulip or daffodil bulb) of the common blue-flowering camas was an extremely important food source for the native peoples and settling pioneers, and when dug up when not in flower, the nutritious common camas corm and the highly poisonous death camas corm are virtually indistinguishable. This was one of hundreds found and photographed among the edible common camas on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes, Washington on a mid-April afternoon almost at the very edge of the high cliffs overlooking Rosario Strait.
    Meadow Death Camas
  • With the reputation of being the plant that has killed more people in the Pacific Northwest than any other plant ever will, the death camas is a rather plain-looking, white-flowered member of the bunchflower family that often grows in and among the historically significant common camas, which has been used as a food source for centuries, if not millennia. The corm (think of something similar to a tulip or daffodil bulb) of the common blue-flowering camas was an extremely important food source for the native peoples and settling pioneers, and when dug up when not in flower, the nutritious common camas corm and the highly poisonous death camas corm are virtually indistinguishable. This was one of hundreds found and photographed among the edible common camas on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes, Washington on a mid-April afternoon almost at the very edge of the high cliffs overlooking Rosario Strait.
    Meadow Death Camas
  • The venomous, yet slow-moving gila monster posing in the lower branches of a mesquite bush in the Senoran Desert, just outside of Tucson, Arizona. This was my forst time seeing one in the wild, and I actually delayed my travel plan to spend extra time looking for one of these.
    Gila Monster
  • Close-up portrait of a Gila monster. This venomous lizard is only one of two venomous lizards in the world. This one was photographed in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Tucson, Arizona.
    Gila Monster
  • Surprising in the Easter-egg lilac/blue/purple color of this mushroom alone, these stood out in sharp contrast to the forest greens and rich browns on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington's Cascades Mountains on a cold and wet November morning alongside the Greenwater River. Upon closer inspection, the sudden intense odor of rotting fruit, wet dog, and those orange circus peanut candies came to mind. The underside of these mushroom was cinnamon brown, and so was the spore print I made from one of them.
    Gassy Webcap Mushroom (Cortinarius t..nus)
  • Surprising in the Easter-egg lilac/blue/purple color of this mushroom alone, these stood out in sharp contrast to the forest greens and rich browns on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington's Cascades Mountains on a cold and wet November morning alongside the Greenwater River. Upon closer inspection, the sudden intense odor of rotting fruit, wet dog, and those orange circus peanut candies came to mind. The underside of these mushroom was cinnamon brown, and so was the spore print I made from one of them.
    Gassy Webcap Mushroom (Cortinarius t..nus)
  • Surprising in the Easter-egg lilac/blue/purple color of this mushroom alone, these stood out in sharp contrast to the forest greens and rich browns on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington's Cascades Mountains on a cold and wet November morning alongside the Greenwater River. Upon closer inspection, the sudden intense odor of rotting fruit, wet dog, and those orange circus peanut candies came to mind. The underside of these mushroom was cinnamon brown, and so was the spore print I made from one of them.
    Gassy Webcap Mushroom (Cortinarius t..nus)
  • Surprising in the Easter-egg lilac/blue/purple color of this mushroom alone, these stood out in sharp contrast to the forest greens and rich browns on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington's Cascades Mountains on a cold and wet November morning alongside the Greenwater River. Upon closer inspection, the sudden intense odor of rotting fruit, wet dog, and those orange circus peanut candies came to mind. The underside of these mushroom was cinnamon brown, and so was the spore print I made from one of them.
    Gassy Webcap Mushroom (Cortinarius t..nus)
  • Mushrooms can be truly strange and weird-looking, but when it comes to the group known as elfin saddles, strange takes on a whole new meaning. Found across much of Northern Europe and parts of North America, this completely irregular white elfin saddle mushroom was one of many found in the heavily wooded Cascade Mountains in Washington State just southeast of Enumclaw on a chilly, rainy, November afternoon at mid-elevation.
    White Elfin Saddle (Helvella crispa)
  • A freshly emerging fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) just popping out of the forest floor along Bellevue, Washington's Coal Creek on an early fall afternoon. In a couple of days, its distinctive bright red cap will be highly visible against the bright greens and dark browns of this part of the forest. This highly toxic mushroom can make anyone ingesting it extremely sick (and possibly fatally). This psychoactive fungus has had such an impact on most major cultures in the history of humans that it is mentioned in just about every culture's folklore and religious texts where it is found in the northern hemisphere.
    Emerging Fly Agaric Mushroom
  • This commonly-encountered, weird cup-shaped mushroom is a type of cup-fungus. Like whenever looking at mushrooms - what you are actually seeing is the above-ground fruiting bodies of the year-round fibrous strands that are actually the real mushroom. These were found growing near the summit of Little Mount Si in North Bend, Washington, and are edible, but may have little to no taste.
    Orange-Peel Fungus
  • A mature orange form of perhaps the world's most famous mushroom - the fly agaric -  growing halfway up the north face of Mount Rainier on one of the last days of summer. Normally bright red, this highly toxic mushroom can make anyone ingesting it extremely sick (and possibly fatally). This psychoactive fungus has had such an impact on most major cultures in the history of humans that it is mentioned in just about every culture's folklore and religious texts where it is found in the northern hemisphere.
    Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)
  • The turkey-tail mushroom is a very common shelf mushroom found all over the world on dead wood in many different kinds of habitats all across North America. This one was found early in the morning in the Ocala National Forest in Central Florida and was the most stunning and beautiful example I've ever seen.
    Turkey-Tail
  • Still wet from a recent rain, this common shelf mushroom grows on the side of a western hemlock tree in the damp foothills of Washington's Cascade Mountains, beautifully side-lit by the late afternoon/early evening golden light. Although inedible, it is a very important part of forest health, as it breaks down and feeds on old or dead trees, making these nutrients available after its own demise for future generations of trees and other forest plants.
    Red-Belted Polypore
  • This beautiful and delicate member of the oyster mushroom family is found throughout much of North America, most often found growing on rotting logs and stumps of hemlock trees and other conifers, such as this one growing in the Olympic National Park in the Hoh Rain Forest. Although sometimes expressed as edible, caution is advised because of a string of recent deaths as a result of angel wings mushrooms.
    Angel Wings
  • The tiny Mycena clavicularis growing on a moss covered log on a chilly autumn morning on the forested slopes of Mount Rainier.
    Mycena clavicularis
  • A very common polypore mushroom found all over North America, I've found these beautiful fungi from the hot sandy pine scrubs of Central Florida to the wet forests of the Pacific Northwest. This one was photographed near the Florida-Georgia border in Chattahoochee, Florida.
    Turkey-Tail
  • A pair of short-stocked suillus mushrooms beginning to emerge from the damp forested area near Silver Falls on Mount Rainier.
    Short-Stocked Suillus
  • The beautiful and possibly ominous scarlet waxy cap mushroom unexpectedly found while hunting orchids in Florida's Fakahatchee Strand in the Western Everglades.
    Scarlet Waxy Cap
  • The Red-belted polypore (or conk) mushroom is very striking member of the Aphyllophorales family. Most often found on black cherry trees, it can also be found growing on conifers. This one was photographed on West Tiger Mountain, in Western Washington.
    Red-Belted Polypore
  • This common mushroom is usually found growing with or among lichens on rotting logs, decaying wood, or in organically-rich soil. While regularly seen across most of the northern hemisphere, it is found most frequently closer to the Arctic. This one was found on Rattlesnake Mountain in Washington's Cascade Mountains.
    Lichen Agaric
  • This beautiful and inconspicuous small brown mushroom was found in a very wet morning on Mount Rainier.
    Inocybe mixtilis
  • This oyster-like cluster of hairy parchment mushrooms was found growing next to the wet, swampy ponds in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge at the southern tip of Washington's Puget Sound.
    Hairy Parchment
  • The odd little bright yellowish-orange cone-shaped mushrooms can be found growing out of the cracks on coniferous deadwood, stumps, logs from the Rocky Mountains and West, often found in spring when the snow is melting. This colony was photographed next to a waterfall on West Tiger Mountain  in Western Washington.
    Golden Jelly Cone
  • This cluster of brittle and slightly aged mushrooms was found on the side of a hiking trail on West Tiger Mountain in Western Washington.
    Common Stump Brittlestem
  • These inconspicuous little mushrooms get a very cool name from the fact that if you break the stems, they bleed a dark blood-red fluid. I found these growing inside of a dead tree (photographed here after pulling away some dead growth) on West Tiger Mountain - just twenty miles southeast of Seattle, Washington.
    Bleeding Fairy Helmet
  • This common mushroom is usually found growing with or among lichens on rotting logs, decaying wood, or in organically-rich soil. While regularly seen across most of the northern hemisphere, it is found most frequently closer to the Arctic. This one was found on West Tiger Mountain in Washington State.
    Lichen Agaric
  • This member of the Amanita mushroom family was found growing in the Fakahatchee Strand of Southwest Florida's Western Everglades. This emerging American Caesar's mushroom is a rare exception to a family of lethally poisonous mushrooms that are responsible for 90% of mushroom-related deaths around the world. This one is known to be be both edible and tasty.
    American Caesar's Mushroom
  • The yellow-tipped coral is one of those odd and irregular-shaped mushrooms occasionally found in the wild. As many things in nature that are delicately beautiful, this is is known to be poisonous. This one was photographed in the fall on Mount Rainier.
    Yellow-Tipped Coral
  • This puffball mushroom is very common and I see them all over the Southeast. This is just an example of  the beauty that Ive been walking past so frequently while looking for the big picture. Sometimes the beauty really is in the details!
    Pear-Shaped Puffball
  • This member of the Amanita mushroom family was found growing in the Fakahatchee Strand of Southwest Florida's Western Everglades. This emerging American Caesar's mushroom is a rare exception to a family of lethally poisonous mushrooms that are responsible for 90% of mushroom-related deaths around the world. This one is known to be be both edible and tasty.
    American Caesar's Mushroom
  • With the reputation of being the plant that has killed more people in the Pacific Northwest than any other plant ever will, the death camas is a rather plain-looking, white-flowered member of the bunchflower family that often grows in and among the historically significant common camas, which has been used as a food source for centuries, if not millennia. The corm (think of something similar to a tulip or daffodil bulb) of the common blue-flowering camas was an extremely important food source for the native peoples and settling pioneers, and when dug up when not in flower, the nutritious common camas corm and the highly poisonous death camas corm are virtually indistinguishable. This was one of hundreds found and photographed among the edible common camas on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes, Washington on a mid-April afternoon almost at the very edge of the high cliffs overlooking Rosario Strait.
    Meadow Death Camas
  • With the reputation of being the plant that has killed more people in the Pacific Northwest than any other plant ever will, the death camas is a rather plain-looking, white-flowered member of the bunchflower family that often grows in and among the historically significant common camas, which has been used as a food source for centuries, if not millennia. The corm (think of something similar to a tulip or daffodil bulb) of the common blue-flowering camas was an extremely important food source for the native peoples and settling pioneers, and when dug up when not in flower, the nutritious common camas corm and the highly poisonous death camas corm are virtually indistinguishable. This was one of hundreds found and photographed among the edible common camas on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes, Washington on a mid-April afternoon almost at the very edge of the high cliffs overlooking Rosario Strait.
    Meadow Death Camas
  • Surprising in the Easter-egg lilac/blue/purple color of this mushroom alone, these stood out in sharp contrast to the forest greens and rich browns on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington's Cascades Mountains on a cold and wet November morning alongside the Greenwater River. Upon closer inspection, the sudden intense odor of rotting fruit, wet dog, and those orange circus peanut candies came to mind. The underside of these mushroom was cinnamon brown, and so was the spore print I made from one of them.
    Gassy Webcap Mushroom (Cortinarius t..nus)
  • Mushrooms can be truly strange and weird-looking, but when it comes to the group known as elfin saddles, strange takes on a whole new meaning. Found across much of Northern Europe and parts of North America, this completely irregular white elfin saddle mushroom was one of many found in the heavily wooded Cascade Mountains in Washington State just southeast of Enumclaw on a chilly, rainy, November afternoon at mid-elevation.
    White Elfin Saddle (Helvella crispa)
  • Mushrooms can be truly strange and weird-looking, but when it comes to the group known as elfin saddles, strange takes on a whole new meaning. Found across much of Northern Europe and parts of North America, this pair of completely irregular white elfin saddle mushrooms were found in the heavily wooded Cascade Mountains in Washington State just southeast of Enumclaw on a chilly, rainy, November afternoon at mid-elevation.
    White Elfin Saddles (Helvella crispa)
  • Mushrooms can be truly strange and weird-looking, but when it comes to the group known as elfin saddles, strange takes on a whole new meaning. Found across much of Northern Europe and parts of North America, this completely irregular white elfin saddle mushroom was one of many found in the heavily wooded Cascade Mountains in Washington State just southeast of Enumclaw on a chilly, rainy, November afternoon at mid-elevation.
    White Elfin Saddle (Helvella crispa)
  • This commonly-encountered, weird cup-shaped mushroom is a type of cup-fungus. Like whenever looking at mushrooms - what you are actually seeing is the above-ground fruiting bodies of the year-round fibrous strands that are actually the real mushroom. These were found growing near the summit of Little Mount Si in North Bend, Washington, and are edible, but may have little to no taste.
    Orange-Peel Fungus
  • This commonly-encountered, weird cup-shaped mushroom is a type of cup-fungus. Like whenever looking at mushrooms - what you are actually seeing is the above-ground fruiting bodies of the year-round fibrous strands that are actually the real mushroom. These were found growing near the summit of Little Mount Si in North Bend, Washington, and are edible, but may have little to no taste.
    Orange-Peel Fungus
  • The fruiting body of the highly poisonous fly agaric emerges from the forest humus on Mount Rainier. Normally a bright red, some colonies (like the one this was part of) tend to be either orange or even white. There is a lot of taxonomical work being done currently with this group of mushrooms, and time will tell if many of these aren't reclassified as distinct species.
    Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)
  • The venomous, yet slow-moving gila monster posing in the lower branches of a mesquite bush in the Sonoran Desert, just outside of Tucson, Arizona. This was my first time seeing one in the wild, and I actually delayed my travel plan to spend extra time looking for one of these.
    Gila Monster
  • Close-up portrait of a Gila monster. This venomous lizard is only one of two venomous lizards in the world. This one was photographed in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Tucson, Arizona.
    Gila Monster
  • Emerging Mycena clavicularis growing on a mossy log in a forest clearing on a rainy October morning on the slopes of Mount Rainier.
    Mycena clavicularis
  • The strange and wonderful orange jelly mushroom grows on conifers and is found throughout North America in the spring and summer. For the brave - it is also edible, although it is recommended (not by me) to be boiled or steamed rather than applied to direct heat.
    Orange Jelly
  • These tiny mushrooms are very common in the mountain areas of the Pacific Northwest in the fall. These were photographed in a coniferous forest on Mount Rainier in Western Washington.
    Red-Orange Mycena
  • This fuzzy foot mushroom was found on one of the many fallen/rotting logs that are found near the Lake Jackson Indian Mounds in Tallahassee, Florida just north of Interstate 10. I had a difficult time finding the correct identification for this one (at least I think I did – 98% sure).
    Fuzzy-Foot
  • This large adult male alligator lives in a pond in my hometown of Bradenton, Florida and is a particularly aggressive fellow. Every time I got near him, he gaped and hissed like he is in this image. For some reason he shut his eyes in this shot.
    Gaping Male Alligator
  • A Northwestern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus oreganus) in strike pose after being caught then released among the ponderosa pines in the Eastern Cascade Mountains in Central Washington. Had I known at the time how highly venomous these particular rattlers were compared to other North American rattlesnakes I might have thought twice. Interestingly, the rattle sounded more like a cicada than your typical warning.
    Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
  • The mountain death camas spends much of the year underground as an onion-like corm, until the spring when it emerges as a beautiful, multi-flowered stalk. It is distinguishable from other death camas from the greenish-yellow markings on the petals, and as the name suggests, it is very poisonous to humans and livestock. This one was found growing in the Rocky Mountains, just east of Aspen, Colorado on a chilly subalpine June morning at about 9000 feet.
    Mountain Death Camas
  • The mountain death camas spends much of the year underground as an onion-like corm, until the spring when it emerges as a beautiful, multi-flowered stalk. It is distinguishable from other death camas from the greenish-yellow markings on the petals, and as the name suggests, it is very poisonous to humans and livestock. This one was found growing in the Rocky Mountains, just east of Aspen, Colorado on a chilly subalpine June morning at about 9000 feet.
    Mountain Death Camas
  • This great find in a purplish prickly pear cactus flower (Opuntia azurea) in Big Bend National Park in West Texas was an exciting one for me. This bee assassin bug is a clever hunter of bees and other pollinating insects found throughout much of North America. It is most often found inside flowers waiting to stab the unsuspecting insect attracted to the flower's sweet nectar with its sharp proboscis, where it will literally drink its prey dry. Even though this one is covered in pollen, you can still see the warning colors of black and red (aposematic coloration) warning birds and other predators that this bug is not safe to eat or hunt.
    Bee Assassin on Purplish Prickly Pear
  • Young cottonmouth (or water moccasin) in the the middle of the road near the Corkscrew Swamp in SW Florida early in the morning. I should have used a zoom lens!
    Ready to Strike!
  • A juvenile cottonmouth warming up in the morning sun on a dirt road near the Corkscrew Swamp in Naples, Florida.
    A Flick of the Tongue
  • A juvenile cottonmouth warming up in the morning sun on a dirt road near the Corkscrew Swamp in Naples, Florida.
    Juvenile Cottonmouth
  • Poison oak in full flower outside of Medford, Oregon. While it is an important food source to several species of deer and squirrels, the slightest casual contact with leaves and flowers and the urushiol oil found within the plant can cause mild to severe reactions in humans in the form of blistered skin, swelling of limbs, seeping wounds and severe itching. Symptoms can become worse with proximity to the smoke of burning poison oak.
    Poison Oak in Bloom
  • Poison oak in full flower outside of Medford, Oregon. While it is an important food source to several species of deer and squirrels, the slightest casual contact with leaves and flowers and the urushiol oil found within the plant can cause mild to severe reactions in humans in the form of blistered skin, swelling of limbs, seeping wounds and severe itching. Symptoms can become worse with proximity to the smoke of burning poison oak.
    Poison Oak
  • The old Boca Grande Lighthouse on Florida's Gulf Coast.
    Old Boca Grande Lighthouse
  • The green iguana, also known as the American iguana is a large attractive and often strikingly-colored lizard in the Iguanidae family that is native to the Caribbean Islands, Central America and most of the northern half of South America. Although they are are herbivores and are not particularly dangerous to humans or other animals, they do adapt to new environments very well and are a very special species of concern in places where they have naturalized (most likely as escapes from the pet trade, as they make very friendly and docile pets when raised by humans). Green iguanas are now found in Florida, Nexas, Puerto Rico and Hawaii where these enormously strong lizards burrow into the sides of canals and riverbanks causing unnecessary erosion and damage, destruction of rare native plants other species depend upon, as well as decimating gardens and landscaping. This 6-foot beefy male was found on the side of the road with around 200 other well-fed adults along a one-mile stretch on Key Largo, Florida.
    Male Green Iguana-1
  • The green iguana, also known as the American iguana is a large attractive and often strikingly-colored lizard in the Iguanidae family that is native to the Caribbean Islands, Central America and most of the northern half of South America. Although they are are herbivores and are not particularly dangerous to humans or other animals, they do adapt to new environments very well and are a very special species of concern in places where they have naturalized (most likely as escapes from the pet trade, as they make very friendly and docile pets when raised by humans). Green iguanas are now found in Florida, Nexas, Puerto Rico and Hawaii where these enormously strong lizards burrow into the sides of canals and riverbanks causing unnecessary erosion and damage, destruction of rare native plants other species depend upon, as well as decimating gardens and landscaping. This 6-foot beefy male was found on the side of the road with around 200 other well-fed adults along a one-mile stretch on Key Largo, Florida.
    Male Green Iguana-2.jpg
  • Easily North America's most common scorpion, the striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) is a medium-sized species found across most of the southern states and many of the states in Mexico. Perhaps one of the reasons for its geographical success is the fact that it can thrive in an amazing variety of habitats. It is found in deserts, grasslands, coniferous forests, deciduous forests and is found living under tree bark, rocks and any other suitable environment it can find. Unfortunately this is where it often is found among human habitation. Painful yet mostly harmless, this scorpion is not considered dangerous, unless you are a cricket, beetle or some other such small prey. This one was photographed in the Chihuahuan Desert's Guadalupe Mountains in NW Texas near the New Mexico border.
    Striped Bark Scorpion
  • The lesser striped scorpion (Hoffmannius coahuilae) is a small and somewhat high-strung burrowing scorpion found in the American Southwest. Although this one stung the stick I was using to position it for this photo about a dozen times, the venom is temporarily painful but certainly not dangerous.
    Lesser Stripetail Scorpion
  • A close-up of the  showy larkspur - seen here in Grand Teton National Park. Poisonous to cattle and somewhat dangerous to sheep - this summer bloomer is found at high elevation grasslands and meadows in western-central North America.
    Showy Larkspur
  • This incredible wild and harsh desert near the Mexican town of Sonoyta is deep in the Ajo Mountain range in Southern Pima County, Arizona. Saguaro cacti, gila monsters, rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, a searing sun are staples of this dangerous part of the Sonoran Desert, and there is a long, deep history among the remnants of the Tohono O'odham Nation who thrived here for centuries, and the ancestral Puebloans who created a vibrant culture here before them.
    Diablo Mountains, Arizona
  • All banana slugs have two pairs of tentacles. The upper pair is the largest, and they are used to detect light intensity or lack of light, much in the way our eyes do. The smaller pair is used to detect and differentiate smells., much in the way our noses do. For protection, both pairs of tentacles can be retracted inside the slug's body in case of danger. This one was found in a disturbed suburban park in Kent, Washington.
    Pacific Banana Slug
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing next to Lake Gulch in rural Baker County, Oregon on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-6
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing next to Lake Gulch in rural Baker County, Oregon on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-7
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing next to Lake Gulch in rural Baker County, Oregon on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-4
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing on the side of a rocky mountain slope just above Petty Creek in Alberton, Montana on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-2
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing next to Lake Gulch in rural Baker County, Oregon on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-3
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing next to Lake Gulch in rural Baker County, Oregon on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-5
  • The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a beautiful shrub or small tree found throughout most of North America except for the southeastern states. While the small beautiful cherries are inedible when ripe (mostly because of the dangerously toxic hydrocyanic acid inside the pits of the ripe berries), the cooked or dried berries are perfectly safe for consumption, and are fantastic for making delicious jams, jellies, syrup, sauces or even beer! These were found growing on the side of a rocky mountain slope just above Petty Creek in Alberton, Montana on a warm summer day.
    Chokecherries-1