Searching for spring ephemerals the day before St. Patrick’s Day was a great idea, but in reality the weather was hot and humid in this weird spring. Nevertheless, we did spot a few joys, thanks to Ann’s sharp eyes.
Are these oyster mushrooms?
Bluebells just emerging, and leaves of trout lilies promise flowers later.
I think this is some kind of spurge (euphorbia), of which there are about a zillion varieties.
A true ephemeral, claytonia virginica, aka spring beauty. You can just make out the helpful lines on the petals so that pollinators can find what they’re looking for.
I kept calling this witch hazel, but I think it is actually spicebush.
Ann knew what this was, though it’s hard to make out in this picture. Shadbush is also called shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry, or just sarvis, wild pear, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum or wild-plum, and chuckley pear, according to Wikipedia.
No walk is complete without wildlife. We admired this shiny fellow along the path.
Oh, and the turtles sunning themselves (top) are probably Eastern River Cooters, according to this site. Unless they are Eastern Painted Turtles…
