Saturday, February 20, 2016

Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, September 14th, 2015 (Part 3)


September 14th. (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

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 were quite a number on this walk including more tooth fungi.


The Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) fronds near the beginning of the ‘Rock Garden’ trail were showing the tell-tale ‘bumps’ indicating that the fern had produced sori (clusters of sporangia). Inspection of their undersides showed that they had already released their spores.


The seed capsules on the Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) vine just below the Resurrection Fern had opened during the previous week. They open at the top of the capsule and the seeds remained nestled deep within them. 

Near the end of the Rock Garden trail, I found a most unusual mushroom. I posted pictures to the Facebook Mushroom Identification Forum and was provided with an identification.


This was a Drab Tooth (Bankera fuligineoalba) mushroom


It had thick, ‘corky’ flesh and… 


teeth instead of gills.


Below the Old Fort, the Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora) vines were developing seeds.


A Yellow Bear (Spilosoma virginica) caterpillar, the larva of the Virginia Tiger Moth, was making its way over the vines.


Another surprise. Nestled among the other plants in this location was a small Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) plant in bloom. I knew that a few Spotted Jewelweed plants grew under the road bridge, but these were inaccessible except by boat. I was delighted to find this plant in an accessible location, even if it had only a few flowers. 

I turned back along the trail. At one place, on my way north along the trail, I saw some odd growths on the slope just above the trail. I wasn’t sure if they were plants or fungi. I took the time on my way back to take a few photos. These I also submitted to the Facebook Mushroom Identification Forum for an identification. It turned out that these were…


the False Coral Fungua (Sebacina schweinitzii). This fungus is also known by the scientific names Tremellodendron schweinitzii and Sebacina pallida. 

References: 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Dioscorea villosa 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Pleopeltis polypodioides 
Mushroom Observer (Terri Clements/Donna Fulton): Bankera fuligineoalba 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Clematis terniflora 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Impatiens capensis 
Mushroom Observer (Judi T): Sebacina schweinitzii 

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, September 14th, 2015 (Part 2)


September 14th. (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 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. The fall mushroom season had begun as well.


In the sunny location under the power lines, several Virginia Meadowbeaury (Rhexia virginica) plants were still blooming. These had been blooming for some time.


The Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus), whose leaves had turned red, was still dominating the area.


The berries on the Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum), that had been black for a couple of weeks, were still hanging on the plants.


I was surprised to see some ‘Honeycomb’ Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. porioides) fruiting bodies on a rotting log by the first bridge. I’d seen them here before but didn’t expect to see them again until next year.


Just over the first bridge, I found more Turkey Tails (Trametes versicolor) growing on a log by the lake shore. In contrast to the Turkey Tails on the log in the open woods, which were shades of gray, these were shades of brown.


Their white undersides, with pores, confirmed that they were Turkey Tails.


The seed capsules were still developing on the Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata); these take a long time to ripen.


The fruit on the Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), completely ripe a couple of weeks previously, was still attached to the bush. 


Nearby, I found a fallen branch with a lichen with fruiting bodies. This lichen was the Perforated Ruffle Lichen (Parmotrema perforatum) because of the holes in the bottom of the fruiting bodies.


The seed capsules and flower buds on the witchhazel (Hamamelis sp.) were still unchanged. 


When I reached the bridge to the Fishing Area, I found another young Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachomys scripta scripta) sunning itself on a floating log – or maybe it was the same slider that I’d seen on several occasions. 


The fruits on the Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) were still unchanged from the previous week. It was easy to see which flowers had been fertilized; their fruits were quite swollen compared with those that hadn’t been fertilized.


To the right of the Buttonbush, a Narrowleaf Silkgrass (Pityopsis graminifolia) plant was blooming. This was the only place that I saw this species on either of the trails I’d been walking.


My final find, before I walked on to the ‘Rock Garden,’ was a patch of Dog Vomit/Scrambled Egg slime mold (Fuligo septica) fruiting body. This patch was orange-brown compared with the light yellow patches that I had seen previously. 
(To be continued…) 

References: 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Rhexia virginica 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Euonymus americanus 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) 
Mushroom Expert. Kuo, M. (2005 March). Trametes versicolor. The turkey tail. 
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) 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Rhododendron canescens 
Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria: Parmotrema perforatum 
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory: Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta) 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) 
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Pityopsis graminifolia 
Messiah College: Fuligo septica 

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