Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,025
I have been out taking photos of fauna and flora for Power Point presentations for some of my classes lately. The goal being to catch specific plants in various stages of growth, as well as the various insect and animal life here in the forest of Southeast Tennessee. I thought I would share some of the recent photos here.
It can be rather dark underneath the canopy, but there is still color, and a lot of life.
A colorful field of Indian Pink and May Apples
In a previous post I showed some photos of Polygonatum Mill or Solomon's Seal. A useful plant that grows in an arch, with alternating leaves, with the flowers and subsequent berries developing in the shade beneath the plant.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=POLYG2
https://www.google.com/search?q=sol...l5.4543j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8
This time I thought I should mention that it has a look-alike, Maianthemum Racemosum or False Solomon's Seal. It has a similar growth style, growing in a low arch with alternating leaves which are similar in appearance to the Solomon's Seal. And historically has it's own uses and usefulness. You can read a little more here, but I would highly recommend more research of both before any use, because there are some definite conflicts in the classifications between the USDA database and the Wiki pages of both plants.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MARA7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maianthemum_racemosum
On this plant the flower and seeds are produced at the tip end of the stem.
It is pretty easy to tell them apart when you find them growing together, but you can see how they do have a similar appearance. The Solomon's Seal is circled in blue, the false in red.
The leaves of the Long-leaf Magnolia can be a handy resource for making temporary shelters from the rain. If you are in or beside a wooded area, but are needing to stay out in the open in order to to see or be seen, such as if needing to be rescued, they can be used to make a shade to shelter you from the hot sun while you wait.
These guys certainly are some hopp-y little fellows!
These guys never get in a hurry.
I do most of my gathering in clearings and open areas, but getting there can be interesting at times. The transition for forest to field is where the thickest growth is, with all of the competition for sunlight. At times it can be a near impenetrable barrier of briers, and they can be painful...
I find the Camp Knife and Hiking Buddy complement each other well, and make a good team for woods wandering.
At the edge of the tree line is where you'll tend to find grapes and muscadines growing. I spotted a tiny orb weaver hanging out between some vines and the tree they are climbing.
This little tussock moth caterpillar was happily munching on leaf at the edge of the clearing.
The black berries are coming right along
Lots of Queen Anne's Lace in the clearings. The tinder roots of the young ones are edible, but make sure you positively identify it first. You don't want to find yourself eating hemlock root...
The garlic is in the process of blooming. The scapes are no skinny little points at the tops of the shoots.
Garlic scapes in three phases of flowering.
The onions are blooming
Onion scapes in three different phases of flowering
Top to bottom. Onions, queen anne's lace, solomon's seal, and garlic
A lot of Dandelions in the clearings also. There was a red-legged millipede crawling among some of them.
Wild turkey are a common sight here these days also. So, in the general vicinity of this one shot, there were greens for a salad, fowl for a main course, herbs for flavoring, and even sassafras roots to make a tea to wash it all down with.
A lot of color in the scrub fields in the spring.
These seed heads could be a flash tinder additive in tinder pile.
A lot of thistle here.
And the fields are full of insect life through the spring and summer.
.
It can be rather dark underneath the canopy, but there is still color, and a lot of life.
A colorful field of Indian Pink and May Apples
In a previous post I showed some photos of Polygonatum Mill or Solomon's Seal. A useful plant that grows in an arch, with alternating leaves, with the flowers and subsequent berries developing in the shade beneath the plant.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=POLYG2
https://www.google.com/search?q=sol...l5.4543j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8
This time I thought I should mention that it has a look-alike, Maianthemum Racemosum or False Solomon's Seal. It has a similar growth style, growing in a low arch with alternating leaves which are similar in appearance to the Solomon's Seal. And historically has it's own uses and usefulness. You can read a little more here, but I would highly recommend more research of both before any use, because there are some definite conflicts in the classifications between the USDA database and the Wiki pages of both plants.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MARA7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maianthemum_racemosum
On this plant the flower and seeds are produced at the tip end of the stem.
It is pretty easy to tell them apart when you find them growing together, but you can see how they do have a similar appearance. The Solomon's Seal is circled in blue, the false in red.
The leaves of the Long-leaf Magnolia can be a handy resource for making temporary shelters from the rain. If you are in or beside a wooded area, but are needing to stay out in the open in order to to see or be seen, such as if needing to be rescued, they can be used to make a shade to shelter you from the hot sun while you wait.
These guys certainly are some hopp-y little fellows!
These guys never get in a hurry.
I do most of my gathering in clearings and open areas, but getting there can be interesting at times. The transition for forest to field is where the thickest growth is, with all of the competition for sunlight. At times it can be a near impenetrable barrier of briers, and they can be painful...
I find the Camp Knife and Hiking Buddy complement each other well, and make a good team for woods wandering.
At the edge of the tree line is where you'll tend to find grapes and muscadines growing. I spotted a tiny orb weaver hanging out between some vines and the tree they are climbing.
This little tussock moth caterpillar was happily munching on leaf at the edge of the clearing.
The black berries are coming right along
Lots of Queen Anne's Lace in the clearings. The tinder roots of the young ones are edible, but make sure you positively identify it first. You don't want to find yourself eating hemlock root...
The garlic is in the process of blooming. The scapes are no skinny little points at the tops of the shoots.
Garlic scapes in three phases of flowering.
The onions are blooming
Onion scapes in three different phases of flowering
Top to bottom. Onions, queen anne's lace, solomon's seal, and garlic
A lot of Dandelions in the clearings also. There was a red-legged millipede crawling among some of them.
Wild turkey are a common sight here these days also. So, in the general vicinity of this one shot, there were greens for a salad, fowl for a main course, herbs for flavoring, and even sassafras roots to make a tea to wash it all down with.
A lot of color in the scrub fields in the spring.
These seed heads could be a flash tinder additive in tinder pile.
A lot of thistle here.
And the fields are full of insect life through the spring and summer.
.
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