Pollen Project: Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's Seal)

Last fall, I set up a microscope to photograph spores for identifying fungi. However, with the dry weather we’ve been having, I’ve only seen a few mushrooms. So, in the relative absence of mushrooms, I decided to photograph pollen from wildflowers. The first in the series is… 

Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon’s Seal)

 

Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon’s Seal) Pollen

Reference:

Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Polygonatum biflorum

Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 18th, 2015 (Part 1)

August 18th. 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 route, which I described here, here, and here.

The early spring wildflowers have finished blooming; it’s time to watch the developing fruit. Summer wildflowers were still blooming but it was time to turn attention to the fungi in the woods.

It had been raining and not the best day for photographing. The rain did, however, brighten the colors of some of the…

small bracket fungi on fallen logs in the first open section of woods.

Flowering Spurges (Euphorbia corollata) were still blooming and a bright spot in the wet, gloomy day.

After seeing some pink color on the Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus) fruit the previous week, I had been hopeful that they would be showing more color on this walk, but they were just the same.

I’d been following the developing fruit on the Hazel Alders (Alnus serrulata) at the Fishing Area but the bushes had been cut back. I found some more just beyond the Strawberry Bush.

The Virginia Meadowbeauty (Rhexia virginica) was also still blooming by the water’s edge.

I was surprised to see a Starry Rosinweed (Silphium astericus) flower after they seemed to have finished for the season.

Small Wood Sunflower (Helianthus microcephalis) plants were still blooming along the trail.

A few Hairy Elephantfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus) and…

A few St. Andrew’s Cross (Hypericum hypericioides) plants were also blooming in the shade.

The Leatherleaf Clematis (Clematis terniflora) vines were still blooming in the open area under the power line, as were the…

Groundnut (Apios americana) vines.

Both the Pigeonwings (Clitoria mariana) and…

Spurred Butterflypea (Centrosema virginianum) vines were also blooming in this area.

In spite of the misty weather, the woods were enticing.

The berries on the Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) plant, in the woods just before the first bridge, were just the same as they had been the previous week.

The Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) seed capsules were still green; they showed no sign of ripening yet.

I found another small bracket fungus on a fallen log just beyond the first bridge. 

I crossed the bridge and continued along the trail.

The fruit on the ‘first’ Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) had turned completely black. I wondered how long it would remain attached to the bush before it fell; I’ve read that they can hang on into winter.

The seed capsules of the Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) was also unchanged.

The seed capsules on the witchhazel bush (Hamamelis sp.) still showed no sign of ripening; the…

the flower buds developing for this season also remained unchanged from the previous week

The fruit on the second Eastern Sweetshrub was still yellow; it wasn’t showing any signs of turning brown. 

From here, I walked on down to the Fishing Area. 

(To be continued…)

Related posts: 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 3rd, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 3rd, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 27th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 27th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 20th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 20th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 13th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 13th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 6th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 6th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort,June 29th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort,June 29th, 2015 (Part 1) 

- Orange Sponge Polypore (Pycnoporellus alboluteus)? 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 22nd, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 22nd, 2015 (Part 1)  

- Black Chanterelle (Craterellus cornucopioides)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 15th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 15th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The OldFort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 3rd, 2015 

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 26th, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 26th, 2015 (Part 1) 

- Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 18th, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 18th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 11th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 11th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 6th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 6th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 30th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 30th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 22nd April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 22nd April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 16th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 16th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 10th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 10th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 4th April, 2015 (Part 2)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 4th April, 2015 (Part 1)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 26th March, 2015 (Part 2)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 26th March, 2015 (Part 1)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 20th March, 2015 (Part 2)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 20th March, 2015 (Part 1)

Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 2)

August 10th. (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 This is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers and I’ve been walking it every week and documenting the wildflowers that I see.

The route, which I described here, here, and here.

The early spring wildflowers have finished blooming; it’s time to watch the developing fruit. A few late spring/summer wildflowers are blooming now.

Just past the first bridge, the Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) seed capsules looked healthy. These take a long time to ripen.

In the woods, I could see scuppernongs on the vines.

The seed capsules on the Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) vine were yellowing; maybe they were starting to ripen.

The fruit on the first Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) was a darker brown than the previous week; it was starting to dry.

A Hairy Elephantfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus) was blooming beside the trail. The plants are sparser on this trail than on the trail from the Section B parking lot to the dam.

The seed capsules on the witchhazel bush (Hamamelis sp.) still showed no sign of ripening; the…

the flower buds developing for this season remained unchanged from the previous week.

The lomonts on the Naked Ticktrefoil (Desmodium nudiflorum) were still developing; they were ‘sticky’ now – waiting for some unsuspecting animal or person to carry them away to a new location.

The fruit on the second Eastern Sweetshrub was still yellow; it was taking its time to ripen.

When I got to the bridge to the Fishing Area, I found another – or maybe it was the same as I saw the previous week – young Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) sunning itself on a log in the inlet.

The fruit on the Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) were unchanged from the previous week.

As I walked past the point in the Fishing Area, clouds had started to build up.

Groundnut (Apios americana) vines were still blooming along the shore of the lake.

In the ‘Rock Garden’…

the seed capsules on the Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) were starting to turn yellow. Hopefully, they were starting to ripen.

A single Smooth Yellow False Foxglove (Aureolaria flava) was blooming.

The Indian Woodoats (Chasmanthium latifolium) were already starting to ripen.

I found another Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) with berries that were just starting to ripen. 

At the inlet below the Old Fort, the…

seed capsules on the Swamp Rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) were opened to release their seeds. It was remarkable how many seeds were still in the capsules.

I’d been watching the Floating Primrose-willow (Ludwigia peplioides) that grows along the shore of this inlet in the lake. This patch used to be thick and bloom profusely; it’s much sparser now.

Finally, there was one flower and it was as beautiful as I remember. Sadly, it was the only flower this season. I’m glad I saw it.

Before I set off back along the trail, I noticed an interesting feature on the wooden retaining wall along the edge of the lake. One of the large timbers had split and had been repaired with an iron wedge hammered into its end. I wondered if they still used this method for repairing timbers like this.

Related posts:

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort,August 10th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 3rd, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 3rd, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 27th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 27th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 20th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 20th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 13th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 13th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 6th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, July 6th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort,June 29th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort,June 29th, 2015 (Part 1) 

- Orange Sponge Polypore (Pycnoporellus alboluteus)? 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 22nd, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 22nd, 2015 (Part 1)  

- Black Chanterelle (Craterellus cornucopioides)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 15th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 15th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The OldFort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 3rd, 2015 

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 26th, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 26th, 2015 (Part 1) 

- Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 18th, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 18th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 11th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 11th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 6th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 6th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 30th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 30th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 22nd April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 22nd April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 16th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 16th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 10th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 10th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 4th April, 2015 (Part 2)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 4th April, 2015 (Part 1)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 26th March, 2015 (Part 2)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 26th March, 2015 (Part 1)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 20th March, 2015 (Part 2)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 20th March, 2015 (Part 1)