June 15th. 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 finshed blooming; it’s time to
watch the developing fruit. A few late spring/summer wildflowers are blooming
now.
It’s not often that a walk starts out like this. An early morning disk golfer had started a Raccon (Procyon lotor) that had taken refuge up a tree. Poor little thing. It was way higher than it needed to go to be safe from us – as if we were a threat to it.
It was another sunny morning. Even the mornings are warm now
and the sun is hot. The benches placed at strategic spots are welcome,
particularly on the return walk.
I was surprised to find a Pigeonwings (Clitoria mariana)
bloom in the woods at the beginning of the trail. I’d never seen one here
before.
The seed capsules were still developing on this Strawberry
Bush (Euonymus americanus). The seed capsules seem to stay at the same size
forever.
Several Starry Rosinweed (Silphium astericus) were blooming
by the trail near the Strawberry Bush, and the…
Lanceleaf Loosestrife (Lysimachia
lanceolata) plants were still blooming. There were about
five plants and they’d been blooming for a couple of weeks already; I was
surprised that they had bloomed for so long.
The berries on the Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) plants
just before the first bridge were still developing nicely, as were the…
seed capsules on the Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) on the
rise just after the bridge, and the…
berries on the Deerbery (Vaccinium staminium) bushes were
still developing.
I keep my fingers crossed when I walk up to the…
Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) plant, but no need
to worry on this day. The fruit was still developing. It hasn’t changed size
for a long time. I guess it has reached its maximum size and it will just take
time to mature now.
The seed capsules on Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) vines were still doing nicely too.
On my previous walk, I’d found the mushroom that I had
identified as Black Chantarelles (Craterellus cornucopioides). This was an
exciting find. I have seen the yellow Chanterells (Cantharellus cibarius) in
several locations but had never seen the Black Chantarelles. In fact, I didn’t
know they existed until I found these. I had gotten relatively good photographs
of them from above but I wanted to photograph them again from the side. I was
delighted that they were…
still in good shape. I actually got the towel that I carry
and lay on the ground to photograph them this time.
From the top, and…
from the side. The top image shows the depth of the
characteristic inverted, funnel-shaped cap. The lower image shows how shallow
or almost non-existent the folds or false gills are.
It wasn’t far to the witchhazel bush (Hamamelis sp.) to find
that the seed capsules were still doing well.
There were still a couple of surprises before I left the
cliff area for the Fishing Area, the ‘Rock Garden,’ and the Old Fort.
(To be continued…)
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