On the west side of the ravine, I continued on with my search for emerging Trout Lilies. Of course, I had my eyes open for other good stuff.
Isn’t this beautiful? Do you know what it might be? Any suggestions welcome. So I leaned to Death Camass (Zigadenus nuttallii), but it seemed to be in an unlikely spot. Oh well, poor me. Of course, I will have to go back to check. LOLMultiple large trees were draped across the ravine. This is an area in which I do visit several times a year. In fact, it appeared to me to have more than the usual number of downed trees. So I wondered if recent winds had been the cause.The brown apothecium (fruiting body) of a Punctelia lichen. Indeed, it won’t be long before this Draba blooms!The first Cymopterus (Vesper macrorhizus) of the day!An American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) held still for just a moment. Lucky me! 🙂Where was the green? Pineapple Cactus (Coryphantha sulcata) spines obscured the green flesh. The center of an areole can have from one to three spines. Also the center spines usually are more substantial. The six to eight radial spines tend to curve. In contrast a similar cactus, Plains Nipple Cactus (Escobaria missouriensis), does not usually have a center spine. However, if it does (1-3 spines) , then they will be similar in thickness as the radial spines. Further, the Plains Nipple Cactus has 12-15 spines on each areole.No Trout Lilies on this side of the ravine so I went back up to the open hillside. Don’t worry Suzanne, I was going to check the other side of the ravine. 🙂 Here I found that some researchers had staked a claim. 😉
Suzanne shared a few of her trail photos from the Fairfield Lake State Park. Last chance to visit the park is Feb. 28th.
So sad that we will miss this treasure.Along the road to Post Oak Camping Area.Beautiful!Suzanne said they had done a lot of burning and post oak savanna grassland restoration work. Just hope the new owners appreciate the park’s hard work. Suzanne’s photos were from 2017.
Thanks Suzanne for the photos!
Finally, would like to tell y’all that my Mexican and Wild Plums have started to bloom! Definitely hope there won’t be another really hard freeze that kills them back. I love my Wild Plums. But as I have logged on my calendar, we have a long ways to go before the warm weather is here to stay. Last year (2022), the last day below 32 degrees was March 24th. Obviously, there is still time for a freeze. In brief, nature will do what nature does. LOL
Thanks for keeping me posted about the trout lilies. And you’re welcome re: sharing the Fairfield photos. So frustrating and tragic for everyone. That lily-looking sprout in the first photo is intriguing. Will be watching for the next report about it.
When I saw that first plant and before I saw your caption, my thought was Death Camas too.
It is so sad about Fairfield lake SP. Gorgeous photos & habitat. I have only driven through it once about 20 years ago.
The new owners of the park will bill doze everything and plant a few new trees and sod all the lawns
And remove the vegetation along the lake too. 😢😡
My Mexican plums thinking about budding…
Thanks for keeping me posted about the trout lilies. And you’re welcome re: sharing the Fairfield photos. So frustrating and tragic for everyone. That lily-looking sprout in the first photo is intriguing. Will be watching for the next report about it.
When I saw that first plant and before I saw your caption, my thought was Death Camas too.
It is so sad about Fairfield lake SP. Gorgeous photos & habitat. I have only driven through it once about 20 years ago.