August 27th. (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. For
the moment, some wildflowers we still blooming but there was a lull between
seasons. I had thought that the slime mold fruiting was done for the year, but
I was in for a surprise. There were new fungi to be found too.
My first stop on the return trail was the…
Hairy Angelica (Angelica
venenosa). Its seed capsules were still developing nicely. This does show
how few flowers were pollinated to go on to develop seed.
The mystery oak gall was aging. At this time, I wondered if
I would ever learn the identity of the insect that caused it. (In fact, I did; more of that next)
I walked down to the little inlet to check on the fruit of
the Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica).
It looked like these were still doing well.
I checked on the branch that held the Little Nest Polypores
(Poronidulus conchifer). The large
brackets had aged and had rough edges compared with when I found them the
previous week. The pores on the underside had also eroded.
The ganodermas, Ganderma
curtisii, had darkened in color a little from the previous week and had
lost their glossy surface.
I was surprised to find a Pigeonwings (Clitoria mariana) flowering by the trail in these open woods. The
plants are very small along this trail – unlike along the trail to the Old Fort
where they produce bigger vines – and would go unnoticed if it weren’t for the
occasional flower.
It’s interesting that three orchids – Pink Lady’s Slipper,
Green Adder’s-mouth, and The Rattlesnake Plantain – grow and bloom in this one
small area that covers only about 300 square feet.
My final stop on the trail in the main woods was to
photograph a couple of Coker’s Amanita (Amanita
cokeri) growing a little way off the trail. I haven’t seen many Coker’s
amanitas along this trail. In contrast they are numerous in the woods near the
Old Fort.
Near the end of the trail, under the power lines, I found
about two dozen Ailanthus Webworm Moths (Atteva aurea) ‘working’ Leatherleaf
Clematis (Clematis terniflora)
flowers for food.
The Tooth-leaved Croton (Croton
glandulosus var. septentrionalis) were still blooming in this area. Their
flowers are more conspicuous than those of their more common cousin, the Woolly
Croton (Croton capitatus), although
their seed capsules are very inconspicuous.
Related posts:
- Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park
Trail: Section B To The Dam, July 29th (Part 1)
-
Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st
(Part 2)
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