Ben here with today's edition of #BenInNature presented by our friends at Carter Bank & Trust!

January 19, 2022

Ben here with today's edition of #BenInNature presented by our friends at Carter Bank & Trust!

Here's a photo I took a couple of months back of my grandma's pyracantha, a genus of thorny evergreen shrubs. Pyracanthas aren't native to Virginia -- they occur naturally between southwest Europe and southeast Asia -- but they're a fairly common ornamental here in the U.S.

While I don't personally recommend planting non-native plants, it's easy to see why pyracantha is a popular ornamental. They produce dense masses of attractive orange berries that are favored by birds. However, they also produce thorns that can cause inflammation and pain if they pierce the skin! For this reason, pyracanthas are sometimes used as a natural barrier instead of constructing a fence.

Pyracantha fruit is technically safe for human consumption, but I wouldn't recommend it! The fruit doesn't have much flavor and the seeds are mildly poisonous; personally, I'll stick to cherries and leave the pyracantha for the birds.

ABOUT #BenInNature
Social distancing can be difficult, but it presents a great opportunity to become reacquainted with nature. In this series of posts, Administrator of Science Ben Williams ventures outdoors to record a snapshot of the unique sights that can be found in the natural world. New updates are posted Monday - Friday, with previous posts highlighted on the weekends. This series of posts is made possible thanks to the support of VMNH Corporate Partner Carter Bank & Trust (www.cbtcares.com).

NATURE PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS
If you discover something in nature that you would like help identifying, be sure to message us right here on Facebook with a picture (please include location and date of picture) and we'll have our experts help you identify it!