Anybody Seen My Focus?: 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

Bug Guide: Spilosoma virginica (Yellow Bear Caterpillar)

Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Impatiens capensis

Mushroom Observer (Judi T): Sebacina schweinitzii

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

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, September 14th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, September 9th, 2015 (Part 4)

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