Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis): Up Close And Personal

August 31st, 2012. While we were looking for wildflowers below the dam at Fox Lake in the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in the Clybel Wildlife Management Area, I almost trod on a Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly that had settled on a grass stem a few inches above the ground. I was able to pull the grass stem without disturbing the butterfly.

 From above

A closer view of the top of the head with two white, triangular spots

The underside

A closer view

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Closer views of the head

We left it sunning itself on a leaf.

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Identification resources:

- Butterflies and Moths of North America: Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis)

- BugGuide: Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) [dorsal] [ventral] 

Related posts:

- Wildflowers At Fox Lake

- Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

August 31st, 2012. We didn’t have a lot of time so we made a quick trip to the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in the Clybel Wildlife Management Area in Jasper County, Georgia. Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is not common in the counties around here. The best place to find them is in moist areas and we found a stand of plants by Murder Creek Church Road belong Fox Lake.

 

Can’t see the trees for the forest

The leaves. The bushes may grow to 7 to 8 feet.

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The flower, from different angles

Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed, Spotted Jewelweed, Spotted Touch-me-not, Orange Jewelweed, Orange Touch-me-not) is native to the United States, where it’s found in eastern states from New England to North Dakota and south, including Colorado, to Texas; It also occurs in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In Georgia, it’s found mainly in counties in the northern part of Georgia although it’s not been formally documented from Jasper County. In north Georgia, they can be found growing by the highway in some places.

This plant gets the name 'Touch-me-not.' not because it has stinging hairs but because touching the mature seedpods causes them to release the seeds explosively. 

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Identification resources:

- Southeastern Flora: Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed)

- Name that Plant: Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Impatiens capensis (Spotted Jewelweed, Spotted Touch-me-not,Orange Jewelweed, Orange Touch-me-not)

- Missouri Plants: Impatiens capensis

Distribution:

- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed)

- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Impatiens capensis

Related post:

- Wildflowers at Fox Lake

Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center: Wildfowers At Fox Lake

August 31st, 2012. We didn’t have a lot of time so we made a quick trip to the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in the Clybel Wildlife Management Area in Jasper County, Georgia. One of the roads, Murder Creek Church Road, passes below the dam impounding Fox Lake (still called Boyle Lake Number Five on Google Maps). This is a moist area and a good place to look for wildflowers.

Desmodium canescens (Hoary Ticktrefoil)?

Flowers at the tip of the stem

The leaves

A flower, up close

A drama was playing out among the flowers, This Green Lynx spider (cc) had caught a bumble bee – as big and probably heavier than itself - and was figuring out how to converit from prey to dinner.

Ipomoea lacunosa (Whitestar)

The flower and leaf

A closer view of a flower

Ipomoea coccinea (Redstar)

The tube

Close up of the face of the flower

Helenium amarum (Bitter Sneezeweed)

This wildflower is one of the most faithful bloomers throughout the dry months.

Diodia virginiana (Virginia Buttonweed)

Grows like a grass along the ground and is easy to overlook

Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed)

Jewelweed is not common in this area but can be found in moist areas

Erigeron strigosus (Daisy Fleabane)

These plants bloom in the spring but don’t bloom well during the heat of summer. They seem to bounce back when it cools down again.

Apios americana (Groundnut)

A flower head

The leaves

Closer view of the individual flowers. It would have been easy to overlook these flowers since they blend into the vegetation.

Verbena brasiliensis (Brazilian Vervain)

Dellcate flowers on tall plants. The flowers are only about 1/4 inch diameter but the plants may be 5 to 6 feet tall.

Quite a variety of wildflowers made the trip worthwhile.

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Identification resources:

Southeastern Flora:

- Helenium amarum (Better Sneezeweed)

- Diodia virginiana (Virginia Buttonweed)

- Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed)

- Erigeron strigosus (Daisy Fleabane)

- Apios americana (Groundnut) 

- Verbena brasiliensis (Brazilian Vervain)

Name that Plant: Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia:

- Ipomoea lacunosa (Small White Morning Glory, Small-flowered Morning Glory)

- Ipomoea coccinea (Red Morning Glory, Small RedMorning Glory, Scarlet Creeper)

- Impatiens capensis (Spotted Jewelweed, Spotted Touch-me-not,Orange Jewelweed, Orange Touch-me-not)

Missouri Plants:

- Ipomoea coccinea

Distribution:

United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database:

- Desmodium canescens (Hoary Ticktrefoil)

- Ipomoea lacunosa (Whitestar) 

- Ipomoea coccinea (Redstar)

- Diodia virginiana (Virginia Buttonweed) 

- Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed)

- Erigeron strigosus (Prairie Fleabane)

- Apios americana (Groundnut) 

- Verbena brasiliensis (Brazilian Vervain)

Coral Fungi: Shades Of White

August 25th. 2012. We’d had quite a bit of rain over the weeks preceding this visit to the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in Jones County, Georgia. We were leaving the NWR and driving northeast on Sugar Hill Road. Much of this road is shaded and has high embankments that stay moist with other areas in the refuge. The conditions had been perfect for mushrooms to grow. Besides the mushrooms, we found a variety of coral fungi

This coral fungus – probably Ramaria botrytis - was growing within a few inches of the emerging Amanita jacksonii mushroom 

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This fungus, growing on a south-facing embankment, was still developing. We don’t know what it finally looked like although the last photo in the set gives a clue.

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 White Worm Coral (Clavaria vermicularis) growing on a north-facing embankment.

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Another fungus, on a north-facing embankment, in the process of maturing into a coral fungus. I wonder if this is a developing Crested Coral Fungus (Clavulina cristata)?

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Another developing White Worm Coral (Clavaria vermicularis). The fungus has barely differentiated to form the coral (above) with mature coral (below)

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Related post:

- Mushroom Road

Mushroom Road

August 25th. 2012. We’d had quite a bit of rain over the weeks preceding this visit to the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in Jones County, Georgia. We were leaving the NWR and driving northeast on Sugar Hill Road towards Hillsboro. Much of this road is shaded and has high embankments that stay moist with other areas in the refuge. The conditions had been perfect for mushrooms to grow.

 Our first sighting was this Pleurotus sp. growing on a tree trunk. It’s a gilled mushroom and is edible.

Amanita jacksonii (American Caesar’s mushroom) – a young by the side of the road, and 

half-opened mushrooms high on an embankment.

Another Amanita sp., possibly the Southern Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria var. persicina), from above, and a

closer view. It had a glossy cap as if someone had poured caramel sauce on it and then decorated it with the warts.

A polypore. The mushroom, the

Cap, showing the pores, and

the stem. Sometimes the topography of the stems is as fascinating as the caps and gills.

Another polypore. This one looked a little like a spaceship from a distance.

Up close, it looked like the surface of a planet.

A close view of the edge of the cap showing the pores again. I felt this mushroom and it had a spongy feel.

An orange mushroom that looked, superficially, like a chantarelle but which didn’t have distinct gills or pores but had an

underside that looked ‘powdery.’

A group of mushrooms belonging to Strobilomyces sp. related to the Old Man of the Woods mushroom (S. strobilaceus), possibly Strobilomyces confusus. This, also, is a

polyporous mushroom.

Next: The coral fungi on Sugar Hill Road

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Identification resources:

- University of Georgia, Department of Natural History: Georgia Basidiomycetes