Late May in an Indiana Circumneutral Seep

Just a few shots from a rich circumneutral seep in Cass County, Indiana on 22 May 2013...

 

Circumneutral seep

Phlox maculata

Phlox maculata

Ranunculus hispidus var. nitidus

Saxifraga pensylvanica

Saxifraga pensylvanica

Post number 500!

Presenting GYBO post number 500! In celebration, here are my top 10 favorite photos. Probably all of them were posted sometime earlier. Thanks to all who visit and comment, and thanks to all who have posted here. Special thanks to Ben and Scott for setting up this group blog.

Interrupted Fern, Porter County, Indiana

Bloodroot, LaPorte County, Indiana

Blue-Eyed Mary, LaPorte County, Indiana

Cleft Phlox, Lake County, Indiana

Bluehearts, Lake County, Indiana

Prairie Brome, Lake County, Indiana

Nieuwland's Blazing Star, Lake County, Indiana

Yellow Lady's Slipper, Lake County, Indiana

Sullivant's Milkweed, Lake County, Indiana

Wild Columbine, Marshall County, Indiana

Timber Phlox

Did you ever notice there are two kinds of Woodland or Timber Phlox? I sure didn’t, but whenever I spend time in the field with Scott Namestnik, he points out things I’ve been walking past for decades without noticing. The distal end of the petals can rounded or notched, as shown below. Indiana lies in or near the transition zone between the two varieties and they commonly grow together. I think they intergrade, but it’s just an opinion - I haven’t done research on this. It's likely that some authors don't recognize the varieties, treating all of it as a single, variable species. Both of these were photographed at the botanically rich Bendix Woods County Park in St. Joseph County, Indiana. While I was attempting to get these pictures, a Hummingbird Moth of some type visited several of the flowers, and I chased it around with the camera for a while, but it wouldn't hold still.

Phlox divaricata var. laphamii, with unnotched petals (western)

Phlox divaricata var. divaricata, with notched petals (eastern).

"Once in a while, spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. " John Muir

Sand Phlox, Cleft Phlox

Frequent in the western part of the Kankakee region of northern Indiana (also on dry sandstone further south), Phlox bifida has a special affinity for dry, stable sandy slopes, especially the hottest ones facing south or west.

Countless thousands of these were flowering in Newton County today. Photographed in Black Oak savanna at Indiana's only ghost town (Conrad) in the Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve.
I have lots of pictures of this plant already, but how could I pass up another chance? Photographed April 4th, 2012.

Green in Winter: Plant Quiz - Phlox divaricata

Good call, Scott! It is Phlox divaricata, Woodland Phlox, a common native plant in Midwestern forests.

Posted earlier: This plant shows up occasionally in mesic forests in winter. Barbara Plampin, Myrna Newgent and I used to see it as we explored the forests of northern Indiana on winter outings. We disagreed on its identification, so eventually I marked a colony and returned to it in the spring. Barbara had the identification correct - no surprise there! Can you name the plant? Feel free to name it or just take a guess.

This is how it looked in May, 2009 near Dowagiac, Michigan.

"Is not January the hardest month to get through? When you have weathered that, you get into the gulf stream of winter, nearer the shores of spring." Henry David Thoreau Journal, February 2, 1854.

Trillies, Lilies, and the Rest of the Bunch

I've been so busy this spring that I haven't had much time to get out and botanize. This past Tuesday evening, I visited property of friends of ours just northeast of Potato Creek State Park in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough daylight for me to take photos at that time. Today, Lindsay, Bootypants, and I went back to this mesic upland forest to snap some shots.

Trillium recurvatum.

Trillium grandiflorum.

Erythronium americanum. Very few individuals of this species still had flowers; most had dropped petals and were developing fruit.

Arisaema triphyllum.

Asarum canadense. I'd never noticed the white portion of the inside of the calyx.

Claytonia virginica.

Dicentra cucullaria.

Enemion biternatum.

Phlox divaricata. The best I can tell, this is ssp. divaricata, with notched petals. Unfortunately, the references I've seen say that the unnotched variety/subspecies sometimes has notched petals, and vice versa.

Phlox divaricata ssp. laphamii. Notice the unnotched petals. The two varieties apparently overlap near the Indiana-Illinois state line, with ssp. divaricata more eastern and ssp. laphamii more western.

Viola pubescens.

Many other species were blooming, but I missed seeing the earliest species (Sanguinaria canadensis, Erigenia bulbosa, etc.) in Indiana this year.

Additional photos can be found at Through Handlens and Binoculars by clicking here.

Recent Photos - Just For Fun

Ever wonder why you wallow around in natural areas trying to get nice photos of some plant that's just about impossible to photograph? Well it's just who you are, and it's just what you do. At such times I am always, always reminded of these thoughts by Robert James Waller: "Existence takes on meaning only when you give it meaning – by making it meaningful. And how do you make it meaningful? By listening to those almost-secret voices within you that, at certain critical times, whisper, “This is me.” In those moments, it’s important to consciously note what you are doing and do more of it – a lifetime of it, in fact."

Hepatica acutiloba - Sharp-Lobed Hepatica

Dentaria laciniata - Toothwort

Claytonia virginica - Spring Beauty

Cardamine douglassii - Spring Cress



Phlox bifida - Cleft Phlox, Sand Phlox

A little Madness in the Spring

Is wholesome even for the King,

But God be with the Clown

Who ponders this tremendous scene —

This whole Experiment of Green —

As if it were his own!

(Emily Dickinson)