What’s that along the Rail Trail?

[Anonymous]

On the rail trail last weekend in Copake, here’s what I saw:

The Ailanthus trees…you weren’t kidding in that Asset and Invader article when you said they were invasive. Holy mackerel!

There were two other species on the trail that were quite profilic which I don’t know the names of, but they’re also on my half-acre a little further south on route 22, and maybe you can identify them despite my woefully inadequate descriptions: One is a low-lying plant with massive dark green wavy leaves. We’re talking big leaves here, no flower to speak of. It strikes me as a chummy, friendly sort, I’m loath to hack it down.

The other is a shrub, not handsome in foliage but at this moment an egg-like bloom, a short-lived white flower with a yolky center. It seems to be a biennial, as there were no blooms last summer that I can recall.

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