Sunday, April 28, 2013

Wildflowers at Boggs Creek Recreation Area: Take Two (Part 3)

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April 13th, 2013. It was clear from our trip to  Boggs Creek Recreation Area in the Chestatee Wildlife Management in Lumpkin County on March 30th that this would be an interesting place to follow through the Spring wildflower season. Particularly, a couple of developing wildflowers – a trillium and a plant with fern-like leaves – had piqued our interest and we wanted to identify them. From our first stop at the trilliums and the creekside, we drove up to the end of the road again.

Bracket fungus


We found an impressive display of bracket fungi on a fallen log beside the road. Rarely to we find so many fine specimens.


A closer view of the largest from the side, and…

above.



One bracket had been knocked off the log and allowed an easy photograph of its identity as a polypore.



Stellaria pubera (Star Chickweed, Giant Chickweed, Great Chickweed)

This species is found mainly in the Piedmont counties in Georgia.


We found a carpet of plants at the base of a tree. (This was the only place that we saw such a thick growth of these plants. In other locations, we saw only individual plants that certainly didn’t grab our attention in the way that this patch did.)
 
A closer view of the patch.


Opposite leaves…

Calyces, and…



Close views of the flowers.


Erigeron pulchellus (Robin’s Plantain)

This species is found mainly in the Piedmont counties in Georgia. As we drove north, we began to see…




 
patches of ‘daisies’ beside the road (Taken on April 26th). They made striking displays. We found some patches at Boggs Creek.


Individual plants were only about 9 to 10 inches tall with a small rosette of leaves at the base, thick stems and clusters of flowers.

A cluster of flowers

A closer view of the leaves and stem  
 

The characteristic calyces


A simple, elegant flower.


Until next time at Boggs Creek…

Click on an image to view a larger image



Identification Resources:

Southeastern Flora



Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:




Distribution:

United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database:



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