July 13th. (Continued from…). I started to walk again
at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. One of my favorite walks is from
the Group Shelter A to the Old Fort and back.This
is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers and I’ve been trying to walk it
weekly and document the wildflowers I see.
The early spring wildflowers have finished blooming; it’s time to
watch the developing fruit. A few late spring/summer wildflowers are blooming
now.
The trail from the cliff to the Fishing Area usually doesn’t have
many points of interest but on this walk, I spotted one of my favorite
mushrooms, an…
Ornate-stalked Bolete (Retiboletus
ornatipes). I spent some time sitting in the leaf litter photographing this
mushroom; I’ll post them separately.
I did find another nice specimen of the Nakedflower Ticktrefoil (Desmodium nudiflorum) flowering beside the trail.
And now I could see the…
leaves. They were on a ‘separate’ stalk, about a foot long, that
appeared not to be associated with the bloom stalk; there were two to three
inches between these stalks at the surface of the leaf litter.
Looking back along the lake just south of the Fishing Area.
A Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta) was perched on a dead
branch; periodically, it would take off and circle around in search of prey
before returning to this same perch.
From the bridge to the Fishing Area, I saw a young Yellow-bellied
Slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) on a floating log to
enjoy the morning sun.
Fruit are developing on the Buttonbushes (Cephalanthus
occidentalis). I’ve never seen these mature
before either so I’m following them with some interest. I think this is going
to be a slow process.
A
Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia
caroliniensis) was still blooming. These plants have been blooming in the
shady area near the point for a surprisingly long time.
In
the ‘Rock Garden,’ the seed capsules on the Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) were doing well.
The Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) on a tree trunk in the Rock Garden,
leafy the week previously, had dried yet again.
A
seed capsule on an Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus
floridus) was hiding behind the leaves; it also looked quite healthy.
I
was surprised when I got to the Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata).
The plant had shriveled and the seed capsule also looked dry. There was no sign that the capsule had split along the side, which is what I had suspected. When I lifted the leaf up, I could see that the…
bottom
had ‘fallen’ out of the capsule and most of the seeds had fallen onto the
ground.
When I got back to the main trail, I
found the…
Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia
discolor) flower stalks that I had located the week previously. The buds
were still pressed against the stalk. Still a week or so before the flowers
would be open.
The Swamp Rosemallow (Hibiscus
moscheutos) was still blooming but, already,
seed capsules were forming.
Indian Woodoats (Chasmanthium latifolium) were becoming a common sight along the trail
through the…
woods.
I found a couple of…
Cranefly Orchid flower stalks at the base of a tree by the trail.
Cranefly orchids have been blooming here for many years and I can use this spot
to assess the status of these orchids if I can’t find them in other locations.
Hairy Elephantsfoot (Elephantopus
tomentosus) were blooming in several locations in the shady woods. This one was blooming in the sun.
The final sighting for the walk was the…
Hairy Angelica (Angelica
venenosa) in bloom.
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