We came home from Hancock County along GA-15 from Greensboro via Watkinsville. The road to Scull Shoals Historic Area is accessed via Macedonia Road from GA-15 so we decided to detour. We hadn’t been there for several months. It was too late to walk around the historic area so we decided to check out a side road we’d seen on the way in. This road wasn’t much more than a couple of tracks through the woods.
Sandy Creek, looking upstream (east) from the bridge. I took this in late November 2010.
We spotted some ducks on a log. Then they spotted us and swam off upstream. What we thought was four ducks turned out to be Mum, Dad and the 11 ducklings. They were too far away to identify.
The road ran along the south side of Sandy Creek. At this point the creek had opened out into a large swamp. Although it was sunny in the open, it was fairly dark in the woods.
And this is what we found...
Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)
The plant
A close up of the flower. It’s a little past its best but more buds are developing and it’ll be fun to follow the development of the seed
Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)
It was late enough that we weren’t really looking for plants but, then, on a curve in the road, W spotted the characteristic profile of the Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora). We found 6 to 7 plants at this location. This plant has set three umbels and another plant is beginning to set blooms.
A closer view of an individual umbel
We were excited to see these plants. Previously, in addition to a plant that grows in our field, we’d only found them by the roadside in both Wilkes County and southeast Walton County. Unfortunately these roadside plants may have been destroyed when the roads were graded during the Winter. In this location in Greene County, it’s unlikely that the plants will be damaged.
Trillium species
This, obviously, is a trillium. It’s a big trillium with slightly mottled leaves and an erect flower
A closer view. It will be interesting to see which species this is. I have a bet with myself but I'm not telling.
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
I’d never seen a Jack-in-the-pulpit before. It’s much larger than I’d imagined. Gigantic compared with what I’d imagined. This plant was about 2 feet tall and almost as wide.
It had bloomed and the fruit are forming. I’ll be following this plant for a while
It looks like this area will be interesting for early Spring flowering plants. We'll be coming back here a lot.
We have a habit of checking out ‘just one last thing’ on our way home. It was dusk so we had to use artificial lighting. I hate flash and only use it for distance shots when I have to. Since my camera won’t shoot macro shots with flash, I use a Yongnuo SYD-0808 digital LED array even though I have to shoot often at 1/50th second.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Distribution:
United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database:
- Anemone virginiana (Tall Thimbleweed)
- Asclepias viridiflora (Green Comet Milkweed)
- Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Identification resources:
Southeastern Flora:
- Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)
- Green comet milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)
- Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
- Field Trip: Scull Shoals. Part 1, Oconee River – Sandy Creek
- Field Trip: Scull Shoals. Part 2, Town Ruins – Store
- Field Trip: Scull Shoals. Part 3, Town Ruins – Arched Bridge & Power Plant
- Field Trip: Scull Shoals. Part 4, Town Ruins – Oconee River Bridge & Superintendent’s House
Asclepias variegata is known by the common names Redring or White Milkweed. Asclepias sp. are perennial and are among the last perennials to emerge in the Spring. Plants may grow from seed or from rhizomes in a single stalk as high as 3-4 feet tall. Flowers form in terminal umbels. In contrast to the Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis) which have a single umbel, some Asclepias variegata plants have two or three terminal umbels. Flowers are white with a red ring between the sepals and the upper part of the flower. So far, we’ve found single plants Asclepias variegata in Wilkes and Hancock counties and several plants in Fort Yargo State Park in Barrow County. Plants bloom in May - June in this area.
Plants at the edge of the woods in Fort Yargo State Park in Barrow County, Georgia.
A closer view. The leaves are broad but have a pointed tip unlike the leaves of the Clasping Milkweed which have blunt ends
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Several views of the multiple umbels that are common on Redring Milkweed plants. The flowers are in tight clusters
This photo shows the red ring that gives this species one of its common names.
A closer view of an individual umbel. You can just spy some legs of a crab spider at the top of the umbel in this photo.
I saw several crab spiders, including this male spider, on the plants in Fort Yargo State Park.
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Close view of the flowers. The hoods of Amplexicaulis variegata are shaped quite differently from those of Asclepias amplexicaulis. The hooks of A. variegata are closed tightly over the stigmatic disk comparison with those of A. amplexicaulis that are ‘loose.’
The hoods of the Asclepias variegata almost touch, compared with those of Axclepias amplexicaulis.
Asclepias flowers appear ‘clean’ because they don’t have loose pollen grains that dust the flowers. Asclepias flowers are unusual; diagrams of the anatomy of the flowers may be found here. The pollen is contained in sacs called pollinia that are located between the anthers. Two pollinia are connected by a ‘thread’ called a translator to a body called a corpusculum. Pollination only occurs if an insect is strong enough to hook the corpusculum and pull the pollinia from their sacs and deposit them on the stigmatic disk of another flower. You can see a photograph of the pollinia of Axclepias amplexicaulis here.
Asclepias variegata (Redring or White Milkweed) is native to the United States. It is found in states east of a line from Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas; it’s not found in the New England states. It is found in Ontario, Canada. In Georgia, plants may be found more frequently in the Piedmont counties than in coastal plain counties.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Distribution:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Asclepias variegata (Redring Milkweed)
Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: White Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)
- Missouri Plants: Asclepias variegata
- Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Asclepias variegata (White Milkweed)
- Wayne’s World: Botany 110. Flower Terminology Part 1, 4. The Remarkable Bisexual Milkweed Blossom
Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
- Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis): Flowers
- Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)
From: Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis): Shoots, Leaves And Flower Buds
Asclepias amplexicaulis is known by the common names Clasping Milkweed, Blunt-leaved Milkweed, Blunt-leaf Milkweed, or Sand milkweed. Asclepias sp. are perennial and are among the last perennials to emerge in the Spring. Plants may grow from seed or from rhizomes in a single stalk as high as 3-4 feet tall. Flowers form in a terminal umbel. Flowers may be pink, purple, or maroon or even a brownish pink.
An individual flowering plant (Ogeechee WMA, Hancock County, Georgia)
Greene County, Georgia
Broad River WMA, Wilkes County, Georgia
Greene County, Georgia
Broad River WMA, Wilkes Co, Georgia.
Ogeechee WMA, Hancock County, Georgia
Flower umbels. The flowers in the umbel are loose, not in a tight cluster like the Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)
Flower just starting to open.
The corrolas open to form a star but soon…
Fold back further…
Until they lie against the flower pedicel.
Close view of the flower, front on
Close view of the flower; slight angle
Asclepias flowers appear ‘clean’ because they don’t have loose pollen grains that dust the flowers. Asclepias flowers are unusual; diagrams of the anatomy of the flowers may be found here. The pollen is contained in sacs called pollinia that are located between the anthers. Two pollinia are connected by a ‘thread’ called a translator to a body called a corpusculum. Pollination only occurs if an insect is strong enough to hook the corpusculum and pull the pollinia from their sacs and deposit them on the stigmatic disk of another flower. You can see a photograph of the pollinia here.
A view showing the corpusculum - the black spot in the middle of the image - that connects the pollinia that are located in the adjacent anther sacs hidden by the flower hoods.
Next – and it may take a while – the 64-million-dollar question is whether flowers have been fertilized and will seed pods develop and release seed. Stay tuned.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Distribution:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Asclepias amplexicaulis (Clasping milkweed)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Asclepias amplexicaulis
Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Clasping milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis)
- Missouri Plants: Asclepias amplexicaulis
- Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses: Blunt-leaf Milkweed
- Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Asclepias amplexicaulis (Blunt-leaved Milkweed, Clasping Milkweed)
- Wayne’s World: Botany 110. Flower Terminology Part 1, 4. The Remarkable Bisexual Milkweed Blossom
Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
- Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis): Shoots, Leaves And Flower Buds
During Winter visits to the Broad River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Wilkes County, Georgia, we’d see the dried horn-shaped seedpods of an Asclepias species. Although we weren’t sure which species it was, based on remnants of leaves on a few plants, we suspected it was Asclepias amplexicaulis, the Clasping Milkweed. This year we decided to put some effort into identifying this species and photograph it from its emergence in the Spring through its development of buds, flowers, and seedpods until it released seeds. We’ve been following plants in Wildlife Management Areas in Wilkes, Greene, Hancock, and Jasper counties.
Asclepias amplexicaulis is known by the common names Clasping Milkweed, Blunt-leaved Milkweed, Blunt-leaf Milkweed, or Sand milkweed. Asclepias sp. are perennial and are among the last perennials to emerge in the Spring. Plants may grow from seed or from rhizomes in a single stalk as high as 3-4 feet tall. Flowers form in a terminal umbel.
We’ve found plants in well-draining soil and often at the edges of pine forests but infrequently in deciduous woods. Plants seem to grow best in partial shade although we’ve found some plants growing in full sun.
Plants produces a poisonous milky sap. Monarch (Danaus plexippus) butterflies lay eggs on leaves of Asclepias sp.; caterpillars eat the leaves, absorb the toxins and become unattractive to predators.
A newly emerged sprout. The lower leaves are cotyledons. The true leaves develop next. This plant has a couple of sets of young true leaves and is already starting to set flower buds.
True leaves are sessile, and opposite in this species. Young leaves are elliptical.
When true leaves mature, they are oblong in shape, clasp around the stem at the base, and have a wavy edge. These characteristic leaves make them relatively easy to spot from a distance and give them one of their common names – Blunt-leaved Milkweed.
Flower buds are just starting to develop
From a different angle
Small buds just starting to show the 5-part shape that is characteristic of Asclepias sp.
A little bigger, from above…
And from the side
Almost ready to bloom
Spotting an Asclepias amplexicaulis plant developing blooms
Asclepias amplexicaulis is native to the United States and found states east of a line from Minnesota south to Louisiana and states west of this line including Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Next: The flowers...
Click on an image to view a larger image
Distribution:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Asclepias amplexicaulis (Clasping milkweed)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Asclepias amplexicaulis
Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Clasping milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis)
- Missouri Plants: Asclepias amplexicaulis
- Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses: Blunt-leaf Milkweed
- Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Asclepias amplexicaulis (Clasping milkweed, Blunt-leaved Milkweed)
Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
- Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)
Sandy Creek, looking upstream (east) from the bridge. I took this in late November 2010. 
We spotted some ducks on a log. Then they spotted us and swam off upstream. What we thought was four ducks turned out to be Mum, Dad and the 11 ducklings. They were too far away to identify.
The road ran along the south side of Sandy Creek. At this point the creek had opened out into a large swamp. Although it was sunny in the open, it was fairly dark in the woods.
The plant
A close up of the flower. It’s a little past its best but more buds are developing and it’ll be fun to follow the development of the seed
It was late enough that we weren’t really looking for plants but, then, on a curve in the road, W spotted the characteristic profile of the Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora). We found 6 to 7 plants at this location. This plant has set three umbels and another plant is beginning to set blooms. 
A closer view of an individual umbel
This, obviously, is a trillium. It’s a big trillium with slightly mottled leaves and an erect flower
A closer view. It will be interesting to see which species this is. I have a bet with myself but I'm not telling.
I’d never seen a Jack-in-the-pulpit before. It’s much larger than I’d imagined. Gigantic compared with what I’d imagined. This plant was about 2 feet tall and almost as wide.
It had bloomed and the fruit are forming. I’ll be following this plant for a while
