Anybody Seen My Focus?: Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park Trail: Section B To The Dam, June 30th (Part 1)

June 30th. When I visited Fort Yargo State Park in mid-February, there were few signs of Spring. The only wildflower plants that were obvious were the leaves of Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) that I found in many places.

The route… I’ve described it here, here, here, and here This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my other walk from the Group A Shelter to the Old Fort but it does have some gems. One of the Smallflower Pawpaws (Asimina parviflora) had developed fruit that, unfortunately, it had lost; the Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) Orchids had bloomed, and some Green Adder’s-mouth (Malaxis unifolia) Orchids had bloomed and two were setting seeds. The occurrence of slime mold fruiting bodies added a new focus of interest for this walk.

A Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) was blooming in the early morning light, making it look pink rather than purple.

I thought the chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) had finished fruiting but a few had appeared a little further along the trail from the earlier ones.

A Starry Rosinweed (Silphium astericus) was still blooming in the woods; and still had buds waiting in the wings.

The Bicolor Lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor) bushes were still blooming; the flowers seemed a little deeper pink than the earlier ones.

I noticed these turkey tail-like bracket fungi on a fallen log. When I first noticed the log early in the year, it was clear that the brackets had been growing on the tree trunk before it fell and are visible on the log as vertical slivers in these photos; I thought they were dead. So I was surprised to find that new brackets had grown horizontally. So much for them being dead.

I hadn’t seen any slime molds at the first log I checked. The only find on this walk was a…

Common Jellyspot (Dacrymyces sp.). Small fruiting bodies – less than 0.5 inches in diameter – had grown on the log

For the second week in a row, I found a…

Trapdoor Spider (Ummidia sp.) crossing the trail on the slope up to the top of ‘The Hill.'

I did find a couple of slime molds on the log near the top of the hill.

Red Raspberry (Tubifera ferruginosa) fruiting bodies were clustered at one end of the log.

A particular treat was a small cluster of Arcyria sp., probably Arcyria cinerea, fruiting structures still forming. These were only 2.3 millimeters tall. I wish I had the time to sit and watch these ‘ripen’ but it could take hours.

I also found a few slime mold fruiting structures – about 1-2 mm tall – that looked like they had calcium shells.

I stopped by the Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). It takes forever, or so it seems, for these fruits to ripen.

At the end of the dam, some Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) were still blooming. These plants are in a shady spot and don’t do well. In previous years, several plants had been growing in a sunny spot where two trails met, and they had bloomed prolifically.

Three trails meet at this spot. In the shade, where the return trail splits off, a…