Another Visit To Irma's Woods

Last night was clear and cold.  The gravitational pull of the full moon was a factor in the frost that formed.  Today is also clear and cold so a trip to Irma's Woods seemed like a productive way to spend the morning.  A normal person would likely see the ground covered with fallen tree leaves in this photo.  A close look may reveal two deep purple plant stems and possibly flower buds.  Our resident expert strongly believes that she has found Blue Cohosh plants pushing their way above the ground.

  

This is today's unknown plant.  We will see how much time and additional growth will be necessary for our resident expert to identify this one.

Why is there another photo of Sharp-lobed hepatica here?  This plants sports blossoms with twelve petals but frequently fewer petals are seen.  Just to the left of the center flower, a leaf grown last year rises above the forest floor.  Having seen the first one it is likely that several more will be found.  The moss covered stone adds interest to this scene.

The first common Trillium to appear here sports a red flower and goes by the local name Stinking Benjamin.  Trillium erectum is its proper name but its use for this plant remains a mystery.  This plant is located at some distance from the road but we used zoom not trespass to take this picture.

Memory has it that at one point in his career, John Burrroughs built a shed atop a larger and more level bedrock stone in his woods.  There it served as his writing studio.  I certainly understand the attraction of such an arrangement and have always admired this hunk of stone.  Burroughs also camped in the shadow of a similar stone at the top of Slide Mountain.  Were these woods mine, I would certainly be a frequent visitor near this stone.

This picture will also need clues to find the reason it was taken.  It has always taken Becky a long while to actually walk alongside of any road.  She is actively looking at things that I miss.  Today she saw a pollinator working Hepatica flowers.  By the time the camera was removed from its case, the insect had moved on.  It was found resting on a leaf in the center of the picture.  It is the size of a fly but can hover while feeding using rapid wingbeats.  By myself I would have never seen it.

Good fortune had it return to the flowers.  The large blossom in the upper left displays a dark spot that is actually the active pollinator.

 

Last year was difficult for both the Bloodroot plants in our garden and these restricted to a small section of Irma's Woods.  It was questionable whether either  would return.  Several tightly wrapped white blossoms were pushed from the soil this morning.  Tomorrow we will return to see both the open flowers and unfurled leaves.  Their time open is limited to just a few days so we will definitely return tomorrow.  So far our plants have made no appearance.  We did have several appear from seeds last year and anxiously await for any sign that any of these plants remain alive.