Thursday, September 10, 2015

Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park Trail: Section B To The Dam, July 24th (Part 2)


July 24th. (Continued from…). When I visited Fort Yargo State Park in mid-February, there were few signs of Spring. The only wildflower plants that were obvious were the leaves of Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) that I found in many places.


The route… I’ve described it here, here, here, and here This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my other walk from the Group A Shelter to the Old Fort but it does have some gems. One of the Smallflower Pawpaw (Asimina parviflora) had developed fruit that, unfortunately, it had lost; the Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) Orchids had bloomed, and some Green Adder’s-mouth (Malaxis unifolia) Orchids had bloomed and two were setting seeds. The occurrence of slime mold fruiting bodies added a new focus of interest for this walk.

The Bigroot Morning Glory (Ipomoea pandurata) vine weren’t blooming in the shade at the edge of the woods near the beginning of my return trail. Wonder if they are ‘done’ for the year.


The seed capsules on the Hairy Angelica (Angelica venenosa) continue to develop. They looked unchanged from the previous week.


Bicolor Lespedezas (Lespedeza bicolor) plants were still blooming along the trail just before it turned west. 

When I turned west and was surprised to find a…


Cranefly Orchid blooming at the edge of the trail. I had thought, even if the orchids bloomed in these woods, that I wouldn’t see their flower stalks for the ground cover. But here was one. Admittedly, the ground cover wasn’t very high in this location.


I was delighted to see one, even it if might be the only one. I had been keeping an eye on the…


Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata) plant. The fruit was brown and I was suspicious.


Sure enough, the capsule had split on the bottom and the seeds had fallen out.


The next stop was the Green Adder’s-mouth Orchid. The…


seed capsules were doing well. 


The last sighting for the walk were more Bicolor Lespedeza flowers on the return trail. 

This walk, like the walk from Picnic Shelter A to the Old Fort, was the ‘quietest’ so far this year. I was left wondering if the ‘slime mold season’ was over for the year.

Related posts:  
- Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st (Part 2)

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