In the past few weeks the canopy has really closed in and seen many of the earliest species set to seed and disappear into the green menagerie of vegetation continuing to grow and mature on the forest floor. It's hard to believe just a month or so ago the under story was still just beginning to wake up and largely lifeless with last year's decomposing leaf layer still clearly visible. Now the ground is nearly impossible to see in some areas due to the rich and diverse array of plants and wildflowers. Unfortunately, I am quite pressed for time these days with work and other projects so this post will be all photos from here on out but I think they speak for themselves better than your blogger ever could. Enjoy!
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| Rich mesic forest slopes alive with spring wildflowers |
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| Sea of drooping trillium (Trillium flexipes) |
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| White and red form of the drooping trillium |
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| Drooping trillium red form |
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| Drooping trillium white form |
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| Carpet of blue-eyed mary (Collinsia verna) |
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| Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia verna) |
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| Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) |
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| Blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) |
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| Morel mushroom (Morchella spp.) |
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| Common Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens) |
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| Canada violet (Viola canadensis) |
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| Toad and the trillium |
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| Crinkleroot (Cardamine diphylla) |
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| Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) leaves |
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| Sessile trillium (Trillium sessile) |
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| Large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) beginning to fade |
