A River Runs By It

I traveled some this week and found myself along the Kanawha River one day at a little city park with the grandbabies. While looking at geese and skipping rocks, I noticed  purple spots among the river side vegetation. It turned out to be a nice flower called  American Water-Willow, a new one for me. And when I got home at the end of a long week, it was raining. I started out early Saturday in a thunder storm, hoping for a break in the weather. I was headed for the Little Bluestone River near my home to search for Virginia Spirea, a shrub that I had never seen. From all of the reading I did this week, I know it is known on this river. And I knew this part of the river receives regular scours, which the spirea needs. I did not find it this time but did see many flowers and then was disappointed at how many were not natives. 
         I had recently found Purple Loosestrife in a drainage ditch and had read how invasive it is, but had no clue how bad until I saw this section of river and the solid purple sections of river bank. There are many pictures below and some will still need to be identified.

#215- Button Bush

Button Bush

#216- Rose Pink

#217- Oxeye Sunflower

#218- Allegheny Monkey Flower

#219- white wood aster

Purple Loosestrife along Little Bluestone River

#220- American Water Willow from Kanawha River  (cell phone picture)

#221- Garden Loosestrife (non-native)

#222- Bouncing Bet  (non-native)

Bouncing Bet  (non-native) 

#223- Asiatic dayflower  (non-native)

#224- Bull Thistle (non-native)

Natives and Aliens

I went back to work this week. I am a school administrator and return to work a month before teachers, so immediately, I will be out of town for several days of conferences and training's. I hope to visit Volcano, WV, a defunct oil drilling town that is now a state park with plenty of wildflowers I hope.

       I needed to get caught up here before I leave, I have been busy roaming this week and taking pictures of everything I find. I tried a different point and shoot camera that I kept in my vehicle. It is an Olympus that has a super macro setting, but I am unimpressed. Native flowers are shown first below and then the aliens. I have seen non-native flowers called everything; introduced, invasive, alien, trash, pests and etc. Many are very interesting, some have redeeming value, most have been here for a long time and will always be here. 

 Notice the yellow cloud of pollen floating around this cattail after I flicked it and snapped the picture.

#198- Cattail 

#199- Black Eyed Susan 

#200- Thimbleweed

 Thimbleweed

I had just noticed the Ginseng has started fruiting and remembered that I had took a picture of it just as it the tiny blooms started to open, but was waiting to the bloom was fuller before posting. But it was a sparse bloom all along. This is an enormously  popular plant in West Virginia, I am linking to the forest services webpage with harvesting rules. 

#212- Ginseng

Sourwood is very popular for the honeys produced from its flowers, there is plenty around my home but my bees don't seem to care much about it. 

#201- Sourwood Tree

#205- Trumpet Creeper

#202- Stinging Nettles

#203- Small Woodland Sunflower

#204- Great Tickseed

#206- Queen Anne's Lace (non-native)

Queen Anne's Lace (non-native) notice purple sterile flower i n middle

#207- Motherwort (non-native)

Motherwort (non-native)

#208- Bird's-foot Trefoil (non-native)

#209- Common Teasel (non-native)

#210 Purple Loosetrife (non-native)

#211- Common Mullen (non-native)

Jimsonweed is an introduced plant that is reported by some sources to have been in America since the 15th century. It may have been named after the Jamestown settlement. It is a great looking plant but every part is very poisonous, even to the point of touching it can cause serious problems.

#213- Jimsonweed (non-native)

Jimsonweed Fruit

Jimsonweed

#214- Harebell (non-native)

 Harebell (non-native)

Coralroot

I took another trip yesterday with my dad to hike  and to see a rare orchid, Bentleys Coralroot. Stanley Bentley's book, Native orchids of the Southern Appalachian Mountains is one of my favorites and his account of finding this orchid is amazing. Seeing this orchid for the first time three years ago was a highlight of my botany endeavors,  I also saw Spotted Coralroot that day for the first time, but have not seen it in the past two years; I have probably been too early. 
         It was great day and here are a few pictures of what we saw. 

#194- Bentleys Coralroot

 Bentleys Coralroot

 Bentleys Coralroot

#195- Selfheal

 Shinleaf was a completely new wildflower for me. I believe this one is the Round-Leaved variety.

#196- Round-Leaved Shinleaf

Round-Leaved Shinleaf

#197- Lance-Leaved Loosestrife

 This Rhododendron is different than Rhododendron Maximum, West Virginia's state flower, in that it is a smaller shrub, blooms as the other is ending, has a tighter flower cluster and the color is much pinker. I will label it when I nail it down. Any suggestions? Update: Seems like I can't find anything other than the Maximum. It still seems odd that it blooms later with a tighter cluster of flowers

The following fungus was very different than others I commonly see in that it was purple.

White Oak Sinks-Summer

I just got back from another family trip to the Smokies. Now days it is mostly waterparks and other attractions for the grand kids but they do enjoy short hikes around Roaring Fork and Cades Cove. I still reserve early mornings for hikes and had been looking at the White Oak Sinks for some time. It has a reputation of being one of the best Spring wild flower areas anywhere. I did a lot of research but could not find how it is in the summer time, so I decided to find out and report. There are many wildflowers and other interesting things to see, but it is hot, muggy and the stinging nettles are about waist high off the main trail. Mycophiles would enjoy the area very much and I include several unidentified mushrooms for them.
I set out at 5:30 AM and was on the trail by 6:30 AM. It was a little over four miles for the round trip hike and exploring in the sink. I was back in the hotel by 11 AM and riding waterslides with the grand kids. 

This water fall disappears into a cave

This Spiderwort was very different from those I find in West Virginia. It may be the Ohio Variety rather than the Virginia one. Or one called Mountain Spiderwort. Notice the small snail. There were snails everywhere on the vegetation.

The only orchid in bloom that I saw was Rattlesnake Orchid

Stinging Nettles - They sting through blue jeans

Yellow Jewelweed

Alum Root

Striped Wintergreen

Indian Pipe

Blue Bead Lilly Fruit

False Foxglove

Devils Bit