Busy Saturday

Started out turkey hunting, which just turned into a long walk. Then while doing yard work at my daughters house I found a few nice wildflowers when I walked to a small creek with the grandbabies so they could get wet and muddy.  All three were new for me. I don't remember them but maybe I had seen them before, though I had never identified either of these first three.

The Wild Sarsaparilla is used as soda flavoring and had many medicinal uses among Native Americans. It is closely related to Ginseng. We were walking along the creek and I noticed a large patch of greenery that resembled Mayapple from a distance. Only a few had the cluster of three flowers growing on a leafless stem from the base. They just did barely catch my eye. 

#84- Wild Sarsaparilla 

Wild Sarsaparilla

The Yellow Mandarin sort of caught me by surprise, the flowers were barely noticeable, being light green and under the foliage  I told my grand daughter they were Fairybells, another common name, to catch her attention. 

#85- Yellow Mandarin 

Yellow Mandarin 

 I had seen Mountain Bellwort earlier in the season and I was very pleased to see this one, it seems a little rarer that the other.

#86- Perfoliate Bellwort

The following were found while walking through the fields and woods while Turkey hunting.

#87- English Plantain

#88- Hawthorn

#89- Sassafras (Male Flowers)

#90- Tulip Popular

The next two are invasive non-natives. The occupy most grown over fields and roadsides. I have called them for many years Autumn olive and Russian olive. I believe now that the first one is a Japanese Honeysuckle, the double red berries help with that ID .The other is Autumn Olive and has one of the most pleasing fragrances .The berries are very tart but have an alum aftertaste. I have seen Turkeys jumping up along side the shrub to eat the berries when snow is on the ground. 

#91- Morrows Honeysuckle (non-native Japanese Honeysuckle)

#92- Autumn Olive (non-native)

#93- Cudweed

#94- Black Haw