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 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.
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