Hey folks-
Even though this last weekend was considered the height of the bloom season, there are still plenty of flowers to be seen at the Rhododendron State Park grove – perhaps for the next week or so, depending on the weather. If we get some cool rainy days (not really that likely – it is July, after all) the blooms might last a bit longer, and there are always a few late blooming flowers to see – it seems that there are a few more of those late bloomers this year. Why? I’m not really sure. It could be many different reasons, and since I don’t have a good answer, I will chalk it up as yet another plant mystery.
There are a few other attractions that can be seen in the grove this week and next – one result of the rain we got last week is an amazing flush of mushrooms – many different species from several families – Amanitaceae, Boletaceae, Cortinariaceae – the list goes on. Pictured are Suillus pictus (painted suillus) and Ganoderma tsugae (shellacked shelf mushroom). There are many others to be seen, but please don’t pick any – if you do, they won’t be there for anybody else to see (myself included).
Note: I have never found the internet to be very helpful when it comes to identifying a mushroom that I am not sure of – there is so much information out there that turns out to be more opinion than fact. Get yourself a good ID book recommended by an expert – not me. Or better yet, take a fungus ID course – I have found them to be invaluable.
There are a few smaller plants to be seen as well – some of them are even blooming now, such as Shinleaf (Pyrola elliptica), Dewberry (Rubus flagellaris) Dewdrop (Dalibarda repens) – the list goes on. But, sorry folks-no pictures to support this text.
The biting insects weren’t too bad today (speaking of opinions), but be prepared for them anyway – things like that do change suddenly.
Until next week,
Ted Lenk