March 26th. (Continued from…) I started to walk
at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. One of my walks is from the Group Shelter A to the Old Fort
and back. This is a rewarding walks for viewing wildflowers.
The route which I described here. It was still early in the
season and I didn’t expect to find much in the way of plants but the weather
forecast was for fog and I wanted to take some photographs along the lake shore
in the fog.
I set off along the fishermen’s trail along the shore
through the ‘Rock Garden.’ I noticed some damage to the tree trunk in the lower
right of the photo.
The damage was quite fresh. A beaver had feasted on the bark.
When I looked at the other side of the trunk, there was
extensive damage to this side as well. The tree is now almost completely
ring-barked. I wonder how long it can survive.
A young leaf had emerged from the Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera).
Developing flowers on a Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda). It
wouldn’t be long before they would contribute to the pollen season.
Some fresh brackets of a Turkey Tail-like fungus. But these
were not what I had come to look for.
I had resisted the urge to ‘dig’ for flowers of the wild
ginger Little Brown Jug (Hexastylis
arifolia).
The flowers develop under the dead leaves. To find them, it’s necessary to
gently remove the leaves. This was a particularly nice cluster of leaves.
I wasn’t disappointed. There were many buds including one,
on the right, that was beginning to open. There were also a few new leaves
developing. I replaced the leaves before I left.
I found these buds when I ‘excavated’ another clump of
leaves, and…
This clump of leaves had only one bud and new leaves were
just beginning to emerge.
The buds on this clump were quite small but the new leaves
were more developed. Enough with excavating ginger flowers.
We’d had
some dry weather and the Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) fronds were
already starting to curl as they dried.
Then along the trail to the Old Fort before heading back
along the trail.
I like to walk loop trails. I usually don’t like walking
back along a path I’ve already walked but this trail is an exception. It’s
funny how I don’t see some things going along the trail in one direction but
see them on the way back.
I spotted this Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
vine growing on one of the trees at the edge of the cliff.
I love plants with perfoliate leaves. I was going to enjoy
watching these flowers develop. This is one of the few places along the walking
trails in the park where Trumpet Honeysuckle vines grow. At one time, these
vines grew and flowered along the trail from the campground to the dam but they
were destroyed when that trail was manicured a few years ago.
This was the really pleasant surprise for me on this walk. I
knew there were a couple of small Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus)
bushes – not much more than a stem or two – at the southern end of the Rock
Garden. I’ve never seen them along this section of the trail. I’ve also never
seen Eastern Sweetshrub flower buds this early in their development so this was
a very special treat for me.
I continued down the trail to the first bridge.
I found that, in addition to clearing the walking trails
near the shelters, the paths through the disc golf course had also been raked
clear. I’d thought about trying to walk the disc golf course during winter but
I’m not familiar with the course and was not sure that I could find my way
around it without getting lost. I’ll have to walk it while the paths are easy
to follow; then I’ll be ready for next Winter.
I made my way back towards the shelter.
When I set out on this walk, there was a fallen tree across
the trail.
When I returned, a crew had been through and removed it,
leaving a bit of a mess but an open trail.
Clearly, Spring had sprung! It’ll be interesting following
the wildflowers that have started to make themselves visible and those that are
still to come.
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