Lycoperdon pyriforme On a hike to the War Spur trail in late September, and then again at Pandapas Pond in late October, I found these mushrooms growing in abundance, on decaying logs. Although the common name of this fungus suggests a pear shape, these can also be round, as seen in the photo gallery below. When they are…
Tag: Appalachian Mountains
Fly Agaric
Amanita muscaria var. formosa It is October, and along with yellow leaves and orange pumpkins, there are large, yellowish-orange mushrooms coming up in my yard in Blacksburg! I found four or five of these mushrooms, growing under a group of hemlock trees, and a whole bunch more on my neighbor’s property, coming up under pines. As…
Ravenel’s Stinkhorn
Phallus ravenelii I know this is kind of gross, but I believe in equal opportunity. So– I found this gray-capped stinkhorn growing in the mulch in my neighbor’s yard in early October. There were a lot of them growing in the same area, with many lying on the ground “deliquescing” while others were still emerging…
Gem-studded Puffballs
Lycoperdon perlatum This information is taken directly from Wikipedia: “This mushroom, popularly known as the common puffball, warted puffball, gem-studded puffball, or the devil’s snuff-box, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. A widespread species with a cosmopolitan distribution, it is a medium-sized puffball with a round fruit body tapering to a wide stalk. It is off-white with a top covered in…
Golden Aster
Chrysopsis mariana Blooming in late summer, this showy, golden yellow aster grows in barren areas. These were photographed growing along a steep roadside embankment on Brush Mountain in Southwest Virginia. The leaves are alternate, simple, entire to ever-so-lightly toothed, hairy, with a strong mid-rib. The leaves are larger at the bottom of the plant, growing smaller…
Honey Mushrooms
Armillaria Honeys! Here’s another new mushroom for me! There are two honey mushroom species pictured in this gallery—both are parasitic on hardwood trees. Armillaria mellea has a distinct ring, or annulus on the stipe and a partial veil when new; the gills are attached; the color is typically honey yellow. Armillaria tabescens is ringless; the…
Bradleys
Lactarius volemus The genus name of this mushroom refers to the “milky” latex that quickly flows when the flesh of the mushroom is cut or broken. Locally known in Southwest Virginia as swamps or bradleys, Lactarius volemus is an edible mushroom species. The top of the cap is burnt orange and smooth when young; the rim is…
Slender Gerardia
Agalinis tenuifolia (Gerardia tenuifolia) Slender Gerardia is a native annual that grows to about 2 feet in height. Note the slender, linear leaves and overall dark color (green to purple) of the foliage. The leaves are opposite and entire. The flowers, borne on long pedicels, are light to dark pink with purple spots inside. They…
Purple-stemmed and New York Aster
Aster… I have a limit as to how long I’ll try to key out difficult flowers, and I’ve hit mine with the fall asters! Right now, there are autumn-blooming asters everywhere that bear alternate, lanceolate leaves that lack petioles and clasp the stem. The leaf margin is usually gently toothed. Each flower head has 30 or more ray flowers…
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae You’ll recognize this prolific fall bloomer: New England Aster can be found growing locally in both home gardens and open meadows. Gobs of showy, purplish flowers cover the top of this tall native plant and provide an important source of nectar for insects–especially migrating butterflies– at this time of year. Examine the photo…
Turtlehead
Chelone Fishmouth, snakemouth, turtlehead… The common names of this flower come from the 2-lipped shape, which calls to mind an animal’s gaping mouth. The pink, red or white flowers are borne on a spike at the top of the plant. The leaves are opposite, ovate to lanceolate, and have lightly toothed margins. Turtlehead enjoys life…
Coker’s Amanita
Amanita cokeri This very large, poisonous Amanita has white warts on the cap and erupts from a large basal bulb. The gallery below shows two Coker’s Amanita mushrooms before they erupted from the bulb, and then again a few days later. (The veil is evident on one of the mushrooms.) The warts on the cap will…
Nodding Ladies’ Tresses
Spiranthes cernua Twist and shout! Luckily the bright white of these tiny orchids help them to stand out in the grass and weeds, otherwise they would be easy to miss in September meadows. They stand only 4 to 12 inches in height. Nodding Ladies’ Tresses orchids bear their tiny flowers in a “double, intertwined” spiraling fashion…
Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale I really like this species epithet: autumnale! It reminds me of what is happening right now, ever so subtly, in the great outdoors: There are little signs of autumn coming–the black gums dropping bright red leaves on the forest floor… the preying mantis growing large and more conspicuous on the prowl… the late…
Pinesap
Montropa hypopithys Popping up from below the forest leaf litter–look at this: is it a plant? A kind of fungus? If you are familiar with Indian Pipe, you might guess that these two organisms are related, and you’d be right. Pinesap, like Indian Pipe, is a non-photosynthetic flowering plant that gets its energy from organic matter…
Kidneyleaf Grass-of-Parnassus
Parnassia asarifolia A friend led me to a sphagnum bog in the mountains near Glen Alton, and that’s where we found a beautiful white wildflower in bloom: the Grass of Parnassus! Surrounding this plant was an immense diversity of other moisture-loving plants including sphagnum moss, sundews, cotton grass, horsetails, shining clubmoss, and alder. First of…
Balsam Mountain Gentian
Gentiana sp. The last days of August… Today, I was pleasantly surprised to find this tall species of Gentian growing in the meadows of Grayson Highland State Park. At first I thought it was Bottle Gentian, but the bright green color of the leaves, the large size of the flowers, and the high elevation locale led…
Whorled Wood Aster
Aster acuminatus Here at the end of the summer you won’t find that many plants in full bloom in the forest, but here is one beauty you can look for now. Found in wet or dry woods, the Whorled Wood Aster is a perennial that grows 1 to 3 feet tall, and blooms in late summer and fall….
Stiff Gentian
Gentianella quinquefolia Just when I thought that the growing season had advanced to the point where no new flowers would come my way, surprise–here comes Stiff Gentian! Members of the Gentian family offer great late-season color, especially in the realm of blues, purples, and violets. Stiff gentian differs in a few significant ways from the other gentian species found…
Ornate-stalked Bolete
Boletus ornatipes or Retiboletus ornatipes I love the color of this mushroom! It is mustard yellow! And note the ornate, netted pattern on the stipe (a reticulate stem)! The ornate-stalked bolete is mycorrhizal on hardwoods, and in fact we found all of these mushrooms in a mixed-oak forest at Pandapas Pond, in Montgomery County, VA…
A Mushroom Foray: August 2012
Pandapas Pond Foray Below is a collection of photos from a mushroom walk that I took with the NRV Mushroom Club. What a diversity!
Old Man of the Woods
Strobilomyces floccopus Once called the “pinecone mushroom”, this spiky character is certainly an interesting find on a summer’s walk in the woods. The cap is speckled with black, wooly scales. Old Man of the Woods is a bolete (note the pores on the underside of the cap instead of gills) that is mycorrhizal on hardwoods….
Destroying Angel
Amanita bisporigera One of many poisonous mushrooms in the genus Amanita, the destroying angel is probably the most poisonous of all. It appears in summer, first as a white “egg” that will form the base. As the mushroom grows, the cap appears conical. When the cap eventually opens, the surface of the cap is smooth…
Teasel
Dipsacus As summer takes a curtain call, new blooming flowers are harder to come by. But in drying fields and along fencerows and roadsides, the tall, spiny remnants of teasel delight the eye. Earlier in the summer, teasel produces inconspicuous white, pink or purple flowers on an oval cone of spines. The visually interesting flower…
Ground Cherry or Chinese Lantern
Physalis virginiana The genus Physalis includes many species in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). There are about 25+ species in North America. Of these, many are called ground cherries. The fruit of all these species is similar to a small tomato, but it is enclosed in a husk, like a tomatilla. The papery covering over the…
A Mushroom Foray: August 2012
I attended my first “Mushroom Foray” yesterday. It was held in Waiteville, WV, on a beautiful sunny day, and it was attended by members of the New River Valley Mushroom Club. Below are some photos of things we found on our 2-hour walk in the woods. I was astounded by the sheer diversity of mushrooms,…
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica It is a late summer treat to see great blue lobelia in full bloom, often alongside the fabulously red cardinal flower. Sometimes called “blue cardinal flower”, great blue lobelia resembles red cardinal flower, (Lobelia cardinalis), in stature, habitat, and structure. Both of these plants are tall wetland species with colorful flowers borne on terminal racemes. Their…
White Snakeroot
Ageratina altissima (Eupatorium rugosum) White Snakeroot is a poisonous plant that is native to North America. The plants are tall and can grow 3-4 ft. in height. Snakeroot’s white flowers are born at the top of the plant in loose clusters that might remind you of boneset or a white ageratum. The substantial leaves of…
Yellow Crownbeard
Verbesina occidentalis This native perennial of moist and sunny places begins blooming in late summer and has a confusing look-alike called wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia, which blooms at about the same time. They often occur together in the same area.. So let’s compare them: Crownbeard and Wingstem are relatively tall plants with winged stems. Each is…
Common Rose Pink
Sabatia angularis Despite the name, there is nothing “common” about this plant! The rose-pink hue of the flower is really astounding. Each flower has 5 pink petals and 5 stamens with yellow anthers. The central yellow style is split in two, adding a festive “pop” to the center of the flower. At the base of…
Green-Headed Coneflower
Rudbeckia laciniata You might guess that this is a composite (Family Asteraceae), and you’d be right. Then, you might assume it is a sunflower or a coneflower because of its color and size. I would. But from there, can you take it to species and spout off the common name? I usually stop short right…
Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum Common boneset is a perennial native that can be found growing locally in wet or damp areas. There are about 20 other white wildflowers that resemble boneset, but this plant is relatively easy to tell apart from the other look-alikes. Notice how the base of the leaves appear to wrap around the stem. It…
Starry Campion
Silene stellata While on an August hike to Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory in West Virginia, I discovered this inconspicuous, and somewhat frail plant growing in the dry, rocky woodlands near the top of the mountain. I later saw the same plant in bloom in a similar habiat, at Wind Rock, near Mountain Lake. This is…
Wingstem
Verbesina alternifolia The common name of this plant, of course, comes from the distinctive stem, which has vertical ridges that are sometimes described as “wings”. (See the photos below.) The stem is usually unbranched, and the fast-growing plant can eventually reach great heights– up to 8 or 10 feet. Wingstem is sometimes called yellow ironweed…
Jimsonweed
Datura stamonium Jimsonweed is also called purple thorn apple. One look at the purple stems and prickly fruit of this plant will tell you why. You’ll find it flowering in August and September, but your timing will have to be right. Generally, Jimsonweed flowers open at night and last only one day. Sometimes you can catch…
Flowering Spurge
Euphorbia corollata Look at these dainty white flowers suspended in a loose cluster like Baby’s Breath! What looks like a 5-petalled flower is actually not–the white structures you see are really bracts. There are super-tiny flowers cradled within these bracts that are nearly impossible to see! You might first recognize the leaves of flowering spurge…
Spindles, Worms, and Corals: Oh My!
How many shapes can can a mushroom take? Apparently the answer is MANY! The following group of fungi take the form of worms, spindles and corals, and their names reflect the diversity of colors and shapes that are currently unfolding in our local woods. Smokey Worm Corals, Magenta Corals, Beautiful Corals, Orange Spindles…click on any…
Virgin’s Bower
Clematis virginiana Look up! That white-flowering, climbing vine that is now covering young trees and shrubs along pathways in Blacksburg is absolutely stunning– and its name is Virgin’s Bower! Perhaps not surprisingly, this pretty native is a kind of Clematis. The 4-petalled flowers are about 1-inch wide and sweetly fragrant. Pollinators, including butterflies, bees of…
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis It’s showtime—and this late-summer bloomer is as showy a flower as they come! Cardinal flower, a native perennial, produces bright red flowers on tall, unbranched stems. The flowers are produced on a raceme, which opens from the bottom first. Each individual flower is bright red and tubular, with 5 deep lobes that are…
Hoary Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum incanum Here’s another native mint from the Lamiaceae family. Like all the mints, this plant has 4-angled or square stems , opposite, elliptical leaves, and a pronounced mint fragrance. Hoary mountain mint has white leaves at the top of the plant where the flowers arise. The white to purple flowers are 2-lipped, with the…
VIRGINIA WILDFLOWERS 