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Six baby skunks were meandering around on our driveway! They were so adorable! But they were very bold! They just walked right up to us! My dad and I sat down, and the skunks began to climb on my dad’s legs. It was a little bit unnerving! But they were super cute! They even made of strange noise. Notice that there is only one primarily black skunk with stripes. The rest are mostly white. Also they seemed to find refuge by hiding behind this tree.

Both subsp. americanus (native to North America) and subsp. australis (introduced to North America) are found at this site, sometimes growing intermixed. In the photos the former is indicated with an “N” and the latter with an “I”. On the date I visited this site, 16 September 2019, these are the differences I observed with living stems between the two subspecies:

•Relative stem height: subsp. americanus usually shorter, subsp. australis usually taller.
•Relative stem spacing: subsp. americanus usually more dispersed, subsp. australis usually denser (rarely solitary).
•Stem breaking: subsp. americanus fibrous and hard to break off, subsp. australis often breaks off easily.
•Stem color (lower/older internodes): subsp. americanus red and often shiny, subsp. australis yellow-green and not shiny.
•Stem texture (lower/older internodes): subsp. americanus smooth, subsp. australis minutely ridged.
•Stem & leaf sheath dots: subsp. americanus often present, subsp. australis absent.
•Leaf condition: subsp. americanus has lots of senescence, subsp. australis generally are healthy.
•Margins of upper leaves near panicle: subsp. americanus finely serrated, subsp. australis coarsely serrated.
•Sterile stems more abundant than fertile: subsp. americanus yes, subsp. australis no.
•Panicle branches for panicles of similar length: subsp. americanus fewer, subsp. australis more.
•Panicle branch spacing: subsp. americanus farther, subsp. australis closer.
•Flowering status: subsp. americanus finished flowering, subsp. australis flowering.

There probably are other characteristics I overlooked that distinguish these two subspecies from each other. Perhaps these characteristics listed above hold up at other sites in North America. I don’t use leaf color to tell them apart because although some clones of subsp. australis are strongly blue-green, some clones of that subspecies are more green or yellow-green. See this observation for an illustration: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30610594

Observation of P. australis subsp. americanus from this location: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32878566

Observation of P. australis subsp. australis from this location: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32888630

Date approximate, found back in 2006. Here's an excerpt from the "report" I wrote up when I found this flower:

"A few months ago my dad and I went to the Nottingham Serpentine Barrens which are near our house to look for interesting plants like the Round-Leaved Fameflower. This flower first appeared after the last Ice Age.

When we went to the Barrens I was all exited when I was the first to find the Round-Leaved Fameflower and Small’s Ragwort. The Fameflower leaves are at its base and look like stretched green eggs. It blooms from June to September and opens in the afternoon. I like the Fameflower because of its leaves and that it can only be found in serpentine barrens."

Finally saw some seeds from this group of individuals! Each of the three remaining had bent over toward the ground and one had a fruit almost touching the ground and another had dropped its fruit. That fruit had some seeds starting to fall out on the ground. I didn’t see any ants around but the fruit does look like something has munched on the side of it.

@trscavo Check it out!