Beaches and Coasts
Lakes and Rivers
Forests
Mountains
Deserts
Wetlands
Prairies
Panoramas
From the rocky coasts of the Pacific Northwest’s mighty Pacific Ocean to the tops of the Canadian Rockies, through Florida Everglades’ River of Grass and across the painted deserts of the American Southwest then over the Appalachian Mountains … these galleries have a little bit of everything that the best of North American landscapes can offer.
Brushfoots
Gossamer Wings
Swallowtails
Skippers
Sulphurs and Whites
Moths
Metalmarks
North America is wildly rich in butterflies and moths. In the United States and Canada alone, there are roughly 750 species of butterflies and a whopping 11,000 species of moths! With careful and painstaking research, more new species are still being discovered all the time!
Birds A-M
Birds N-W
When it comes to birds, North America is fantastically rich in native species diversity. While some species are found all around the world, the vast majority are found only here and nowhere else.
Bison, Goats, Sheep
Squirrels, Chipmunks
Deer and Elk
Rabbits, Hares, Pikas
Rats, Mice, Voles
Seals and Sea Lions
Foxes, Wolves
Raccoons
Pigs
Pronghorns
Armadillos
Manatees
Bears
Weasels, Otters, Badgers
We mammals have come a long way since the time of the dinosaurs. We’ve conquered the land, sea and air. North America has more than 740 species alive today.
Dragonflies
Grasshoppers
Arachnids
Insects
Marine Invertebrates
Snails, Mollusks
Crustaceans
Myriapods
Alligators, Crocodiles
Lizards
Snakes
Turtles, Tortoises
Long before the first dinosaur walked the earth, reptiles ruled the world. 65 million years after the last dinosaur drew its final breath, North America’s modern crocodiles, alligators, snakes, lizards, and turtles and tortoises are still keeping our native natural history alive!
Tree Frogs
Toads
Spadefoots
True Frogs
Salamanders
Did you know the word “amphibian” means “two lives”? All amphibians start their lives in the underwater, but after they go through a series of metamorphosis stages to adulthood, most trade gills for lungs and live the rest of their lives out of the water.
Arethuseae
Calypsoeae
Cranichideae
Cymbidieae
Cypripedieae
Epidendreae
Malaxideae
Maxillarieae
Neottieae
Orchideae
Pogoniinae
Polystachyeae
Triphoreae
Vandeae
Vanilleae
One of the largest families in the plant kingdom with nearly 28 thousand species around the globe, orchids are also one of the most popular and most sought-after flowering plants in history. In Victorian times, entire foreign expeditions were sent around the world at great personal risk led by fearless (and often ruthless) orchid hunters to acquire the next new unknown exotic species from the most distant corner of the Earth. Luckily for us, North America is rich with unique native species found nowhere else in the world!
Wildflowers by Color
Wildflowers by Family
Pitcher Plants
Venus Flytraps
Bladderworts
Butterworts
Sundews
Light-spored Gilled Mushrooms
Brown-spored Gilled Mushrooms
Dark-spored Gilled Mushrooms
Polypore and Crust Fungi
Morels
Jelly-like Fungi
Unique & Unusual Mushrooms
Puffballs
Club, Coral and Fan-like Fungi
Cup-fungi
Boletes
Lichens
Slime Molds
Without the enormous and nearly invisible world of fungi, there would be no forests or plants as we know them, no animals living, feeding and hunting in the forests and nothing to break down what organic matter is left. It’s this wonderful (and often weird) group that keeps nutrients moving and cycling through our world’s ecosystems.
Fruits and Berries
Cacti
Ferns
Bromeliads
Agaves and Yuccas
Palms
Saprophytes
Mosses
Horsetails
Deciduous Trees
Coniferous Trees
Botanical Images
by Rich Leighton | Jun 7, 2021 | Interesting Nature Facts, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife, Nature Photography, Pacific Northwest
Five very interesting things about moss: 1. Moss was the first plant on earth. 2. Moss don’t have roots, but rather thread-like rhizoids that help them stay snugly anchored in place. 3. While most mosses love wet habitats, some can be found in deserts and even growing...by Rich Leighton | Dec 12, 2019 | Interesting Nature Facts, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife, Pacific Northwest
Common horsetail buds are eaten as a vegetable in Japan and Korea in springtime. All other Equisetum species are toxic. MORE PHOTOS OF HORSETAILS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that make North...by Rich Leighton | Dec 7, 2019 | Interesting Nature Facts, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife, Pacific Northwest
Common horsetail has 108 pairs of chromosomes. MORE PHOTOS OF HORSETAILS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that make North America so amazing. Posts include nature photos that are short & sweet,...by Rich Leighton | Jan 24, 2019 | Interesting Nature Facts, Natural History, Nature & Wildlife, Nature Photography
Ferns reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. Their fossil record goes back 360 million years. MORE PHOTOS OF FERNS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that make North America so...
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