Yard mysteries

[telophase]

So we did some long-overdue yardwork in the back yard this morning, mostly hacking and slashing the overgrown hedge next to the house, and discovered a few mysteries, two of which I assume are related to each other.

Mystery #1:
There are volunteer strawberries growing in our yard. We didn't plant them, they're just growing wild, and in random spots.

Mystery #2:
There is, shall we say, rather pungent evidence that a dog has been in our back yard. Which we keep shut up tight.

Mystery #3:
Now that the big willow tree in our back yard died thanks to 2 years of drought, the evergreen off to the side has shot up and has produced fruit or seed pods or SOMETHING that we've never seen before.

Photos and my interpretation of two of the mysteries below the cut.



Right. So we're assuming that a small dog got out and under the fence somehow--there's no obvious holes, but we were too tired and cranky by this point to inspect so we don't know if it's the somewhat big area under the gate on the south side or if one of the yappy dogs* on the north side has dug a hole under the fence behind one of the bushes over there.

We are assuming that said dog consumed some strawberries at some point shortly before a foray into our yard and deposited them. At least one of the patches of strawberry plants has a decided cluster of flies there, which lends credence to this theory. Either way, we're not going to be eating these strawberries.

And now: pictures!
Strawberry!


And blurry strawberry with blurry fingertip to show you how small it is!


Here's the tree that's producing the weird things:


And here's one of the weird things. I forgot to stick my hand in the shot for scale, but I'd say it's about 2" or so in diameter?


If anyone knows what species that tree is, we'd be grateful!
* They usually keep them inside, so we don't complain about the yapping.

Comments

[movingfinger]

Birds plant strawberries for you, and you've had plenty of birds! They can make a nice ground cover, but they will overrun everything. You can cut them back without feeling bad.

That is an unripe seed cone, on the tree.

[telophase]

True on the birds! Loligo suggests, down below, that they're mock strawberries, which seems sensible. Either way, we actually prefer ground cover like this to grass.

[boxofdelights]

Bald cypress?

[loligo]

Bald cypress, I agree. And I think the strawberries are more likely to be mock strawberries: http://www.eattheweeds.com/potentilla-indica-mistaken-identity-2/ They are common weeds and probably got there from a bird-sown seed.

[telophase]

Ah, cool on the mock strawberries! We both like ground cover other than grass, so if it wants to supplant the rather sparse grass back there, it's welcome to.

[telophase]

That seems to be the consensus.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

*waves from Friends-of-Friends*

Could your mystery tree be a cypress? The leaves (needles?) look like those of a cypress tree we had in our yard in Virginia. You're in Texas, yes? I believe there are several varieties that are native there.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

I thought of cypress, but I believe they have scales rather than smooth needles? Or are there different types of cypress?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Cypress seems to be the consensus!

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

Bald cypress maybe? http://www.backyardnature.net/n/w/taxodium.htm Native to Texas, pics on the page look pretty close.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

That seems to be the consensus.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

The tree is a bald cypress! We have them.

If the strawberries' photo has your finger in it, I would guess those are wild strawberries, which are native plants. Most strawberries spread via runners, rather than seeds.

Lastly, the very stinky poo might be from a fox. They're quite common in urban/suburban areas and love to leap fences. My dad had a fox problem in his house in London.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Over on DA someone suggests mock strawberries for the berries. Either way, that's fine: we both like ground cover over grass!

Hm, hadn't thought about foxes, which now seem like a possibility. I know there's rabbits and various rats and mice in the neighborhood, plus we're on the edge of town (although not for long, as there's more construction happening south of us), enough so that we can see cows in a pasture on the other side of the tollway if we walk three streets over, so there's a big mix of urban and rural wildlife in the area. I think we'll still check the fence to make sure the neighbor dogs aren't digging holes, though.

This just makes me want to set up a wildlife camera in the back yard.