June 30th. (Continued from…) 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 Pawpaw (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.
The main flower head on the Hairy Angelica (Angelica
venenosa) had finished blooming. The smaller flower head was in full bloom. It
would be interesting to see if these set seed.
I stopped to check the mystery galls on the Blackjack Oak (Quercus marilandica) sapling. They were drying and
hardening.
One of the leaves of the oak had been pierced by a pine
needle. It’s amazing how these pine needles develop the force with to pierce a
strong oak leaf when they fall.
I made my way off the trail and down into one of the gullies
by the lake were a Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) had bloomed.
One had been damaged and the developing seeds were visible
through the wound.
Indian Woodoats (Chasmanthium latifolium) were developing fruit along this section of the trail.
Further along the trail I found some Coral Slime
(Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa
vaar. fruticulosa) that had fruited on a fallen log.
For once, the Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata)
plant was bathed in sunlight.
The seed capsule was still developing
The Green Adder’s Mouth Orchids (Malaxis unifolia) was
developing seed capsules.
Pipsissewa
(Chimaphila maculata) plants were also developing seed capsules.
The trail
just before the hill climb; it looks deceptively cool.
I found a
couple of lichens on a recently fallen branch.
The
fruiting bodies on this lichen are in pristine condition;…
these
fruiting bodies have ‘aged;’ the margins on these are worn compared with those
on young fruiting bodies.
This
fungus is a Brown-toothed Crust
fungus (Hydnochaete olivacea). It’s
dry and worn with time. It's fairly common but often overlooked.
Near the
end of the trail, the Hoary Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum incanum) was still blooming.
Spurred
Butterflypea (Centrosema virginianum) had just started to bloom on this trail; this was the
first flower for this season.
The final sighting on this walk was some Aligatorweed (Alternanthera philoxeroides). A
small patch of weed was growing just west of the bridge to the parking lot.
Related posts:
- Spring Is In The
Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st (Part 2)
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