Pictures of spring flowers thread

[HikerBob]

Mike,

It might be fruiting lichen as in THIS PIC from my hike last week.

I first saw these last year and was totally bewildered. A little investigating turned up some more info.

Bob

 

[arghman]

alpine garden trip report

oh boy! I was lucky enough to go along w/ a group of Audubon folks today (Sun 6/5) up the Auto Rd to the Cow Pasture. We hiked down to the Alpine Garden trail (via the top part of Huntington Ravine Tr) & over to the brook that shows up on the topo maps. Sunny & mild weather & an easy breather hike compared to the Mt Abraham & Spaulding hike I went on the day before. Here are some pix from it, the willow ID's are courtesy of Doug Weihrauch, an AMC botanist, who helped lead the hike. We peppered him with questions!

We were a little early, not much was in bloom yet, just a few scattered plants. However there were lots of flowers about to bloom, & in fact we think some of the alpine azalea flowers opened up during the course of our hike, either that or we didn't see them on the way down. The next two weeks should be Alpine Garden primetime. (the lapland rosebay is the one that ends bloom first, the flowers will probably be gone in three weeks) Mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) not in flower yet, but lots of last year's berries have overwintered, and were rather tasty.

(Asides: There were also a number of downhill skiers having fun on a large steep patch of snow below Ball Crag. The snow is essentially gone from the trails, though. Also, if/when you take the auto road, make sure your oil isn't low, the steep incline changes the oil distribution & going down towards the end my car started to smoke after being in low gear at high RPM.)

the "usual suspects": (1) diapensia (Diapensia lapponica), (2) alpine azalea (Loiseleuria procumbens), (3) lapland rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum). These three are the more common ones, you also see them over by Mt Monroe / Lakes of the Clouds.


(4,5) bearberry willow (Salix uva-ursi), which is dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants). One of these is male, one is female, I forget which & therefore would probably fail a botany exam . (6) tea-leaved willow (Salix planifolia). We saw some other plants, including false hellebore just starting to poke up next to the brook that passes midway along the Alpine Garden), but none in bloom, except deer's hair sedge which didn't come out well in the picture I took.


edit: mountain avens (Geum peckii) was not in bloom yet, maybe another week or so. (it has a very distinctive fan-shaped leaf and a yellow flower, if you're hiking around Mt Lafayette, Eisenhower, Monroe, Washington, maybe the northern Presis in the next few weeks you will see it)
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a completely different plant ID, from the trip up to Mt Abraham--
anyone out there able to ID members of the Stachys genus? (which includes the garden plant "lamb's ears" that has large fuzzy leaves & a purple flower stalk) Here's one by the trailhead, on an old woods road, among raspberries & strawberries, leaves are 2-3" long. I can't figure out which one it is & could use a hand.

 

[HikerBob]

Arghman - I think you just helped me ID my 'Ummm # 5' pic from my latest host of yet to identify bloomers - thanks

I know I could look these up (or remember them) but it's more fun asking for you knowledgable folks help

Looking for answers to the following:
Umm... #1
Ummm... #2 Ummm... #3
Ummm... #4
Ummm... #5
Ummm... #6
Ummm... #7
Ummm... #8
Ummm #9 (I think same as #2)

Cheers,
Bob

 

[arghman]

Looking for answers to the following:

#1 and #3 -- you got them right. the picture for #1 shows a good identifying characteristic of wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) vs. wood strawberry (Fragaria vesca); the end tooth of the wild strawberry leaf is smaller. (just learned this one last month)
#5 -- definitely diapensia.
#6 -- possibly rhodora (Rhododendron canadense)?
#7 -- probably one of the shadbush/serviceberry/juneberry species (Amelanchier)
#8 -- very nice shot of a bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), worthy of inclusion in a field guide; I am envious! The 4 large "petals" are actually bracts (modified leaves) & not flower parts, your pict shows the true flowers which are much smaller.
#2 and #9 -- I am not sure, possibly elderberry (Sambucus), I saw the same kind of plant along Rt 16 in Gorham yesterday.
#4 -- not sure, I am terrible with violets

 

[arghman]

FYI -- AMC's research department (not to be confused with the AMC policy-making department, administration at Joy St, or whoever makes the pricing decisions for lodging) is asking for help to do plant phenology studies in alpine areas in New England, they are looking for people to note when/where they see six common species (diapensia, Labrador tea, mountain avens, alpine bilberry, mountain cranberry, and Bigelow's sedge) & what stage of bloom they are in.
See http://www.outdoors.org/research/mountainwatch/mtnplant-alpine.cfm and http://www.outdoors.org/research/mountainwatch/mtplant.cfm .

 

[1ADAM12]

Flower

Here is a pic I just took on the Cascade Porter Trail. I also saw some Lady SLippers that I did not get pics of

 

[carole]

baneberry

HikerBob: pics #2 and #9 are baneberry - not sure if they are white or red baneberry (you can tell when it has berries ). Note: don't eat the berries

Edit: no, on second look I say 'red-berried elder'.

 

[arghman]

From a SPNHF property I monitor in Goffstown: (1) blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp., from the iris family, not sure of exact species), (2) sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia). Mountain laurel (K. latifolia) was almost in bloom.


======

Pix from the Cedar Brook trail en route to the Hancocks; I was worried about the brook crossings noted in the AMC WM Guide but they weren't too bad & are right near a boggy area which was a very pleasant surprise that greatly relieved the drudgery. From my camera emeritus (left the heavier camera at home, a choice I immediately regretted upon seeing these):

(1) Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum), (2) Bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia, note flowers at end of leaf stem, vs. K. angustifolia where they are in the middle), (3) trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens, on the Hancock Loop trail, still in bloom at 3000' )

 

[darren]

OK.....two more.....just shot these this evening.

And then there were two...

Can you guess what this is? It's not the yellow brick road, Dorothy.

- darren

 

[darren]

OK...one more...

I was in Crawford Notch last weekend and the trillium were all gone (down low anyway), but the lady slippers were out in full force. Here is a nice white lady slipper. They are more rare than the pink (in my experience anyway).

- darren

 

[Mark Schaefer]

Can you guess what this is? It's not the yellow brick road, Dorothy.

Well if not the yellow brick road, perhaps the road to Georgia O'Keeffe's easel. Not her black iris or light iris, but a very nice iris.

 

[HikerBob]

Darren, I'd guess Siberian Iris... only because I have a bunch in my yard

I also have some of THESE which I always think are very pretty.

Bob

 

[JohnL]

The Trilliums and Hobblebush were taken June 5 on the Greeley Ponds/Osceola Trails and the Lady's Slippers and Canada Mayflower were taken June 12 on the Garfield Trail.

Flowers

JohnL

 

[darren]

Well if not the yellow brick road, perhaps the road to Georgia O'Keeffe's easel. Not her black iris or light iris, but a very nice iris.

You are right. It is kind of Georgia O'Keeffe-ish, huh?

- darren

 

[GeorgeFitch]

Thanks to all for sharing such beautiful pictures.

I've seen tons of pink lady slippers but I never knew they came in white. Those are really nice.

 

[Greg]

white ladies slippers

I noticed a bunch of them at the beginning of the Great Gulf trail last weekend, up to about the Wilderness Boundary.

 

[spicyjeff]

There were also a bunch of white ones, along with pink and red, along the lower part of the Mt. Garfield trail two weekends ago.

 

[Cath]

OK.....two more.....just shot these this evening.

And then there were two...

Can you guess what this is? It's not the yellow brick road, Dorothy.

- darren

Dicentra spectabilis & Iris 'Dreaming Spires' (maybe......)
I'll have to see about the pic I have of Tropaeolum majus ~

 

[HikerBob]

Even though we have now slipped into summer....

While everyone else was sweltering in the mountains last weekend I limited my hiking to a circuit of my yard after I had mowed the acre of jungle I fancifully call a lawn. I risked not taking fluids, but did tote the camera.

I've put up a selection of wild, and not so wild, flower pics and invite suggestions for identifying them all. Some I know, but I'm not telling

Pics start HERE

Only prize is to have your name credited on the page

Bob

 

[arghman]

I'm not good with garden plants so I'll skip the cultivated-looking ones.

2: One of the chickweeds (Stellaria spp.)
4: Looks like one of the campions (Silene spp.) or possibly soapwort (Saponaria)
24: Potentilla recta (sulphur cinquefoil)
10,27: Verbascum thapsus (mullein)