Road Trip: Wilkes – McDuffie Counties, June 26th, 2015 (Part 1)

June 26th. Once again, it was time for a road trip to monitor frogs. So, as usual, we used the trip to scout wildflowers.

We started the trip at the west end of Enoch John Road. On the section of road between Danburg Road and Anderson Mill Creek, I think I spent more time at the edge of, straddling, or in roadside ditches while photographing flowers.

There were the ‘usual suspects,’…

Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata),…

Starry Rosinweed (Silphium astericus),…

Hairy Angelica (Angelica venenosa), and

Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris).

A wild petunia, that I expected would be the Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis), turned out to be the Stalked Wild Petunia (Ruellia pedunculata); a nice surprise.

At the Anderson Mill Swamp, I found a…

Passionfruit (Passiflora incarnata) in bloom.

I was hoping that the Broadleaf Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) would be in bloom, but alas not. 

A Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus) teased me for some time, flying back and forth along the road. 

From the Anderson Mill Creek swamp, we drove east to the swamp on the unnamed tributary to Fishing Creek.

The dam, repaired by the beaver, was holding. The large ‘bed’ of…

American Lotus (Nelumbo luteo) was thriving. We satisfied ourselves with admiring the…

flowers from the road. 

A small skipper, a Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor), feeding on a

Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare). 

Then I noticed the…

leaves, and then the…

flowers of an Angularfruit Milkvine (Matelea gonocarpos). 

Then, on the other side of the road, I found another vine, climbing up a blackberry cane that had a…

Blackberry Knot Gall. This vine had even…

more flowers. 

(To be continued…)