July 29th. (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. It
seemed that the slime molds may have finished fruiting for the season.
At the end of the dam, the Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), and the…
Bigroot Morning Glory (Ipomoea
pandurata) vines, in the shade at the edge of the woods near the beginning
of my return trail, were still blooming.
The seed capsules on the Hairy Angelica (Angelica venenosa) were still developing. They looked unchanged from the previous week.
Most of the seed capsules on the New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) were now ripe, compared with a
couple of weeks previously when the capsules on only one seed head had ripened.
I had only been checking the fruit on the Green Arrow Arum
(Peltandra virginicus) every couple of weeks; these were quite swollen and
still looked healthy.
I spotted another Cranesfly Orchid flower spike by the
trail. They’re not necessarily easy to spot; usually, they are ‘fuzzy’
interruptions in the landscape that might, or might not be noticed.
Some of the Bicolor Lespedezas (Lespedeza bicolor) plants were sporting the intense pink blooms
that I liked so much. It’s interesting how the colors of flowers on the same
bush varied throughout the season.
In spite of the heat at this time of year, this trail through
the woods was remarkably cool and enjoyable in comparison with the open sections of the trail.
Hairy Elephantfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus) plants are not common
in this open part of the woods but there were one of two plants that were blooming
happily.
The seed capsules were still developing on the Green
Adder’s-mouth Orchid plant. The plants only leaf, however, was wilting in the
dry weather. I wondered weather it would survive for the seed capsules to
ripen. Time would tell.
Then back to the parking lot where this Trumpetweed/Joe Pye
Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum) plant at
the lakes shore told me I was near the end of the trail.
Related posts:
-
Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st
(Part 2)
No comments:
Post a Comment