September 2nd. (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.
Finally, a couple of the seed capsules on the Hairy Angelica
(Angelica venenosa) was ripening.
A little further along this section of trail I found a
Yellow Patches Amanita (Amanita
flavoconia) mushroom. The glossy surface on the caps of these mushrooms
always look, to me, as if someone poured butterscotch sauce over them. Usually,
the caps have yellow patches on them.
I checked fruit on the Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) in the little inlet
just before the bridge over the big ‘canyon.’ It still seemed to be developing.
We had had a storm a day or so before this walk. Winds had
blown some small branches from tall trees in the forest. I found some more
interesting…
small bracket fungi on one of these branches. The undersides
of these were quite different from the other brackets I had been looking at.
These brackets had gills. Superficially, they looked like
the Gilled Polypore (Lenzites betulina).
However, closer examination of the gills showed that they were more complicated
than those of the Gilled Polypore. These gills divided periodically along their
length. Only recently, I identified them as Daedaleopsis
septrionalis. Since finding these brackets, I’ve found them on three more
branches that had fallen from trees in this forest. I’ve been told that this
species doesn’t occurred frequently in the United States. I’m inclined to
believe It appears that they may occur more frequently than recognized because
they are growing on branches in trees and we only see them when the branches
fall.
The Bicolor Lespedeza (Lespedeza
bicolor) bushes were still blooming further along the trail before it
turned west.
A small Turkey Tail (Trametes
versicolor) cluster was growing on a log.
Summer Oyster (Pleurotus
pulmonarius) mushrooms were growing out of the top of a tree trunk that had
been cut off. The tree was right beside the trail and, yet, I almost missed
them; they were almost at eye level. They were a little past their best but
still impressive. The largest was approximately six inches wide.
Another Hairy Elephantfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus), rare along this section of trail, was
still blooming.
I found a striking mushroom, white with black scales,
growing on a rotting log near where I had found the Little Nest Polypore. This
was a Black-disc Lepiota, formerly Lepiota
atrodisca, now Leucoagaricus
atrodiscus.
I walked a little further along the trail and was startled
by some flashes of red off to my right – where there shouldn’t have been
anything that was red-colored. I had to laugh when I looked. They were…
Strawberry Bush (Euonymus
americanus) seed capsules that had opened to expose their brightly colored
fruits.
Sadly, the Ganoderma
curtisii fungi that I had seen the previous weeks had disappeared. I
believe that someone had collected them since they are believed to have
medicinal properties when ground and used in teas. It’s important - although
too late for these fungi - to note that it is illegal to collect plants or
fungi in State Parks in Georgia. Collecting fungi robs people of the
opportunity to see these fascinating fruits.
I was delighted to find that the Green Adder’s-mouth Orchid
seed capsules were still developing nicely. I wondered how long it would take
for them to ripen.
On the trail near the orchid, I found a single mushroom, a
Russula sp., with a purple cap.There are at least five Russula sp. with purple
caps and I didn’t have enough information to identify it further.
In the woods, the seed capsules on the Rattlesnake Plantain
(Goodyera pubescens) were still
developing nicely too.
My final find, before I headed up the hill, was a cluster of
mushrooms similar, at least superficially to the Suillus sp. that I had seen when I entered the woods. Like the
earlier species, these had dry caps, but these had…
rings, indicating that they had veils. This was a different
species, as yet unidentified species, from the one I had seen earlier on my
walk.
Then on up the hill.
(To be continued…)
Identification references:
- Kuo, M. Mushroom Expert.com: Amanita
flavoconia
- Messiah University: Daedaleopsis
septrionalis
- Kuo, M. Mushroom Expert.com: Pleurotus
pulmonariusI: The Summer Oyster
- Mushroom Observer, Walt Sturgeon: Leucoagaricus
astrodiscus
- Kuo, M. Mushroom Expert.com: The Genus Suillus
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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