Anybody Seen My Focus?: Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, September 9th, 2015 (Part 2)

September 9th. (Continued from… ) I started to walk again at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. One of my favorite walks is from the Group Shelter A to the Old Fort and back.This is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers and I’ve This is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers and I’ve been walking it every week and documenting the wildflowers that I see.

The route, which I described here, here, and here.

The early spring wildflowers have finished blooming; it’s time to watch the developing fruit. Summer wildflowers were still blooming but it was time to turn attention to the fungi in the woods.

There are two Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus) bushes growing in full sun in the open area under the power lines. The seed capsules on the first bush had opened. The capsules were a deeper red than those I’d seen in the shade.

A single Hairy Elephantsfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus) plant was blooming under other plants that were shading it.

A Groundnut (Apios americana) vine was still blooming and was one of the plants providing shade for the Hairy Elephantsfoot.

The second Strawberry Bush had a surprise for me. Its leaves had turned red; a harbinger of fall.

Hairy Small-leaved Ticktrefoil (Desmodium ciliare) bushes in this open area were still blooming. I was surprised at how leathery and tough the leaves were. The plants had already set a lot of lomonts.

The Panicled Tick-trefoil (Desmodium paniculatum) bushes were also still blooming.

The berries Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) fruit, that were black the previous week, were still hanging on the plants.

I headed over the first bridge.

The seed capsules were still developing on the Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata); they showed no signs of ripening yet.

The uphill side of the trail just past the Pipsissewa is strewn with fallen branches. Many of these are covered with False Turkey Tail (Stereum ostrea) bracket fungi; these brackets have smooth undersides that distinguish them from true Turkey Tail fungi.

The seed capsule on the Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), completely ripe by my previous visit, was still attached to the plant.

The seed capsules and flower buds on the witchhazel (Hamamelis sp.) still hadn’t changed; neither had the…

seed capsules on the Mountain Azalea (Rhododendron canescens).

I took a few minutes to check some bracket fungi on a rotting tree stump. I’d spotted these brackets in late June and identified them, tentatively, as Nigroporus venosus. As I’ve learned more about bracket fung this year, I’m certain that this is a correct identification. Most of the brackets had lost their beauty but there were signs of new growth indicated by the fresh white margins on some brackets. This bracket fungus is considered to be a ‘tropical’ fungus that occurs from the Gulf Coast to Florida; they have been found in several locations in Georgia. They don’t appear to be common but it’s possible that they are not seen often because they fruit before the fall mushroom season.

I found an older Shaggy Stalked Bolete (Heimioporus betula) nearby. Its cap had faded to off yellow and had lost its glossy appearance.

And then another surprise…

I found a couple of small ‘colonies’ of the Spongy Orange Polypore (Pycoporellus alboluteus) on the underside of a rotting log. The growth was young enough that the pores were still intact and had not broken down to look like teeth. This makes the fourth location where I've found this fungus in the park.

I walked on towards the bridge to the Fishing Area and spotted some…

Crown-tipped Coral (Artomyces pyxidatus) growing on the same log where I had seen them a month or so previously.

(To be continued…)

References:

- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Euonymus americanus
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Hairy Elephantsfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus)
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Groundnut (Apios americana)
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Hairy Small-leaved Ticktrefoil (Desmodium ciliare)
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Panicled Tick-trefoil (Desmodium paniculatum)
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata)
- Mushroom Expert. Kuo, M. (2008, December). Stereum ostrea
- Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus)
- Mushroom Expert. Kuo, M. (2004, November). Nigroporus vinosus
- Mushroom Expert. Kuo, M. (2010, March). Heimioporus betula
- Mushroom Expert. Kuo, M. (2006, December). Pycoporellus alboluteus
- Mushroom Expert. Kuo, M. (2006, December). Artomyces pyxidatus

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, September 9th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 31st, 2015 (Part 3)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 31st, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 31st, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 25th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 25th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 18th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 18th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 3rd, 2015 (Part 2)