September 11th (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. For
the moment, some wildflowers we still blooming but there was a lull between
seasons. I had thought that the slime mold fruiting was done for the year, but
I was in for a surprise. There were new fungi to be found too.
I was making my way to the Green Adder’s-mouth Orchid when I
was brought up short by patches of brilliant orange at the edge of the trail. I
had seen them before, in spring, but hadn’t been paying much attention to fungi
at the time. But now…
These are lobster mushrooms (Hyphmyces lactifluorum). H.
lactifluorom is a fungus, not a mushroom; it parasitizes Russula sp.or Lactarius sp. mushrooms, and covers them with a bright orange layer
and…
twists the host mushrooms into contorted shapes. This fungus
isn’t a basidiomycete like its host; it’s an ascomycete.
It produces spores in the tiny dark red flask-shaped, hollow
fruiting bodies (perithecia) that are visible in this photograph.
The Green Adder’s-mouth Orchid seed capsules were still
developing nicely. They seem to take a long time to mature – for
seed capsules that are so small.
The seed capsules on the Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) were still
developing nicely in the woods off to the right of the Green Adder’s Mouth
orchid.
On my way around to the hill, I found a couple more
mushrooms.
Amanita
muscaria
var. persicina; just these. We don’t
see many of this species in the park.
In contrast, these little brown mushrooms were scattered
widely in pine needles. These were older specimens whose caps had wrinkled. Friends
on the Facebook
Mushroom identification Forum identified these as Gymnopus subnudus, one of the LBMs (Little Brown Mushrooms).
My walk back through the woods was uneventful. Towards the
end of the trail in the main woods, I found the…
Carolina Elephantsfoot (Elephantopus
carolinianus) still blooming. The flowers weren’t open when I walked by on
the way into the woods.
Camphorweed (Heterotheca
subaxillaris) was in full bloom. The flowers of Camphorweed are very
similar in appearance to those of Maryland Golden-aster (Chrysopsis mariana) that blooms around the same time. A quick look
at the leaves allows identification of each.
Camphorweed has broader, serrated leaves compared with the
more narrow, smooth-margined leaves of the golden-aster. Camphorweed leaves are usually
more twisted than these. The easiest way to differentiate Camphorweed is to
touch the stem if you see ‘moist’ hairs on the stem or to crush a leaf; the oil
or leaves will smell like camphor, hence their common name.
Back under the power lines, tall bushes were blooming with bright yellow
flowers. These were Bearded Beggarticks/Ditch Daisies (Bidens aristosa), which put on quite a
show en mass.
The final. colorful spotting on the trail was a Gulf Fritillary
(Agraulis vanillae).
Identification references:
Kuo, M. Mushroom Expert.com: Hypomyces
lactifluorum: The Lobster Mushroom
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Malaxis
unifolia
Kuo, M. Mushroom Expert.com: Amanita
muscaria var. persicina
Kuo, M. Mushroom Expert.com: Gymnopus
subnudus
Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Elephantopus
carolinianus
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Heterotheca
subaxillaris
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Chrysopsis mariana
Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Bidens aristosa
Butterflies and Moths of North America: Gulf
Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
Related posts:
- Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park
Trail: Section B To The Dam, July 29th (Part 1)
-
Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st
(Part 2)
