Sunday, April 3, 2016

Mid Spring 2016 In The Appalachians


April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Rue-anemone ( Thalictrum thalictroides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved




April 8, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Christmas Fern Fiddleheads 
( Polystichum acrostichoides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Emerging Fiddleheads and Mayapples 
are sure signs of the spring season.

April 11, 2016
Flower Bud On Top
Mayapple ( Podophyllum peltatum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

For now the flower bud of this Mayapple is mostly exposed above the leaves.  In coming days, as the leaves continue to grow and unfurl, they will rise above this bud and obscure ( mostly ) the flower by the time it blooms.  Eventually an "apple" will form from the flower and ripen during May ( thus, the common name of May-apple ).

April 12, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Flowering Dogwood ( Cornus florida )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

This dogwood has opened but the bracts have not yet turned white.  The flowers are actually clustered in the middle and lack petals.  It is bracts that most people call the flower petals of this state tree-flower of the grand Old Dominion of Virginia.

April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Rue-anemone ( Thalictrum thalictroides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

These are such small, delicate ephemeral wildflowers that even the slightest breeze will rock them back and forth.  That makes obtaining a high resolution shot, with deep depth of field, difficult in windy conditions amid the woods.

One never knows what they will find out in the woods.  I came across this lovely Rue-anemone that had a broken stick across its stem in just the right place to both turn it toward the camera and help to stabilize it against strong and gusty winds.

April 8, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Group Of Rue-anemone Thalictrum thalictroides )
In Various Reproductive Stages In Lower Elevations
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Golden Ragwort ( Packera spp. ) With A 
Snout-nosed Beetle ( Curculionidae Family )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Ramps ( Allium tricoccum ) Coming Up
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Single-head Pussytoe ( Antennaria solitaria )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

The head of a Solitary Pussytoe is rather strange looking
up close.  It was windy when I took this macro shot.

April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pennywort ( Obolaria virginica )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

I had identified this little wildflower years ago and had forgotten about it until I came across some the other day.  I had to ID it again, and remembered at that point.  Pennywort barely rises above the leaf litter and are easily overlooked ( they may not rise above the litter if it has not been packed down ).

April 1, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Against A Mossy Background
Rue-anemone ( Thalictrum thalictroides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 11, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Group Of Rue-anemone Thalictrum thalictroides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 5, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Mid-Spring Forest In Cold Air Drainage
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 5, 2016
Dominion Fitness Center
Tulips ( Tulipa spp. ) In Town of Clintwood
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 8, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Cultivated White Daffodil ( Narcissus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 5, 2016
Dominion Fitness Center
Redbud and Bradford Pear Trees
Beautiful & Patriotic Scene In Clintwood
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 5, 2016
Dominion Fitness Center
Redbud and Bradford Pear Trees
Spring Beauty In The Town of Clintwood
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 8, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Cultivated White Daffodil ( Narcissus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 8, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Halberd-leaved Yellow Violet ( Viola hastata )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Halberd-leaved Yellow Violets, which began blooming in lower elevations during March, are now being joined by the first Long-spurred Violets.

April 8, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Long-spurred Violet ( Viola rostrata )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Bloodroot was wrapping up for a blast from winter.  To see what it did, reference this section of 
The Appalachian Climate Center.

April 8, 2016
Wrapping Up For A Winter Blast
Bloodroot ( Sanguinaria canadensis )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 8, 2016
Lower Elevations of Cumberland Mountains
Long-spurred Violet ( Viola rostrata ) With
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Getting Ready To Bloom In Lower Elevations
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

I have seen only one Large-flowered Trillium in bloom so far, in a place only a mountain goat could reach, but many are poised to bloom in coming days as temperatures warm from wintry levels.

April 8, 2016
Christmas Fern Fiddleheads
( Polystichum acrostichoides ) Against Log
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 10, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Striped Wintergreen ( Chimaphila maculata )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 10, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pennywort ( Obolaria virginica )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 10, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Opening But Not Yet Fully Open
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 10, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Opening But Not Yet Fully Open
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

The bottom of emerging Mayapple reminds me of the
way Amanita Fungi bust up through their buttons from
the ground and break their veils.

April 11, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Neon-Green Stalk of New Mayapple
Newly Emerged Mayapples ( Podophyllum peltatum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

When you go into the woods EYES are 
always upon you, whether you know it or not.

While I was photographing the emerging Mayapples I looked down and saw these little beady EYES looking right at ME.  It was a 
Jumping Spider species.  And he was Cocky.
I was in his territory!

Greenish eyes & front legs with an orange colored sac.
Unfortunately, I lost him in the litter and did not get a
good photograph this time.  I will be looking for him!

April 11, 2016
A Poor Photograph But Lucky Shot
A Jumping Spider Species Watching ME!
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 12, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Fully Open In Late Afternoon Sunlight
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 12, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
A Focus On Complex Veination Of Leaf
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 12, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Amid Golden Ragworts ( Packera spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 13, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 13, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 14, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Dwarf Cinquefoil ( Potentilla canadensis )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 14, 2016
Just Emerging From Ground
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Note how hairy, or pubescent, Pink Lady's-slipper
Orchids are as they emerge from the earth.

April 14, 2016
Just Emerging From Ground
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 14, 2016
Apple Tree Blossoms ( Malus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 14, 2016
Apple Tree Blossoms Malus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 15, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 15, 2016
Lower Elevations of Cumberlands
First Wild Geranium ( Geranium spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

While I was taking the first Wild Geranium in bloom of this spring a wild looking spider came along and allowed me to take a few shots.

Another cocky fellow that appeared 
to be another Jumping Spider species.

April 15, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Possible Jumping Spider Species On Geranium
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Instead of green, this one had red around his eyes.  Four eyes in front, two eyes in the middle and two eyes in the back of his "head."  There is no way to "sneak" up on one of these intricate  machines!

April 15, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Front View - Looking At Me From A Distance
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

While I was documenting spiders, I came across this Fishing Spider with a stash of victims that had gotten caught amid the tube of a White Daffodil.

A smart spider to pick an ideal placement for 
his tangle of web fibers, as during the time I was shooting a Gnat flew into this tube and became tangled ( not visible below ).

April 15, 2016
Tangle Of Web Fibers In Daffodil Tube
Fishing Spider With Stash Of Victims
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 16, 2016
Pretty Violet ( Viola spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 16, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Fleabane Species ( Erigeron spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 16, 2016
Sap-sucking Bug Species ( Coreidae Family )
On Wild Comfrey ( Cynoglossum virginianum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

I found Wild Comfrey coming up in mixed-mesophytic woods and was intrigued by what appeared to be a member of the Coreidae Family 
of true bugs that had glowing "poker-like" tips 
to his antenna.

This was accentuated by the late afternoon sun, which had him back-lit above as it came through the trees directly on one of the wooly comfrey leaves.  He emerged to the tip of a leaf ( below ) and looked somewhat different from the back-lit pose above.  Like many insects, he had one pair of compound eyes and one pair of simple eyes.

This dark brownish bug appears to likely be the 
( Acanthocephala terminalis ) given the glowing tips of its antenna.

April 16, 2016
( Acanthocephala terminalis )
On Wild Comfrey ( Cynoglossum virginianum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

After he flew off the leaf above, to the ground, I turned him in different directions, as I could see he was headed west, and with every turn he would move in a way that took him west 
( no matter what direction I turned him he immediately shifted back to walking in a west direction ). 

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Although these may presently look like Yellow Lady's-slippers, they are still developing and will turn pink in coming days.  Some are just coming up, or yet to emerge.

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Wild Bleeding Heart ( Dicentra eximia )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Foamflower ( Tiarella cordifolia )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Squawroot or Bearcorn ( Conopholis americana )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 17, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Tulip-tree Beauty Moth ( Epimecis hortaria )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

I have to thank my friend Chris Allgyer, of 
the MECC Mathematics Department, for the identification of this interesting moth species 
( with it's Hoot-Owl like eyes ).

April 18, 2016
Amid Unseasonable Warmth-Dryness
Bloodroot ( Sanguinaria canadensis )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

While I may shoot some photographs like above, amid nearly full sun, I prefer early or late light that is filtered through the woods to soften it up like in the following two Trillium shots.

April 18, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 18, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Large-flowered Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 18, 2016
Finally Mature With White Bracts
Flowering Dogwood ( Cornus florida )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 19, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Wild Bleeding Heart ( Dicentra eximia )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

Out of the Holy Grail of the Dicentra genus, Wild Bleeding Heart and Squirrel Corn have very similar looking petals and leaves but different petal colors.

Dutchman's Breeches ( Dicentra cucullaria ), which forms the trifecta, produces significantly different petals.

*Squirrel Corn tends to come into bloom
a little earlier than Wild Bleeding Heart.

April 19, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Squirrel Corn ( Dicentra canadensis )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 19, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Finally Coming Into Maturity
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 19, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 19, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 19, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Central Fertile & Peripheral Sterile Flowers
Japanese Viburnum ( Viburnum plicatum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

A form of this with only sterile flowers
is called the Japanese Snowball bush.

April 21, 2016
Native of Cumberland Mountains
Wild Azalea ( Rhododendron periclymenoides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 22, 2016
Powell Valley Overlook
Greening Mountain Landscape Welcomes Rain
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 22, 2016
Powell Valley Overlook
Along The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 22, 2016
High Knob Massif
Beautiful Cloud Formations Over Powell Valley
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 22, 2016
High Knob Massif
Spring Comes To Powell Valley 
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 23, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Fire Pink ( Silene virginica ) Begins To Bloom
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 23, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Fire Pink ( Silene virginica ) Begins To Bloom
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 24, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Approaching Their Peak Bloom
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

The slipper on these delicate ephemeral wildflowers is nearly translucent, so light makes a huge difference with respect to how they look at any given time.

April 24, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Sunlight Only Striking Top Of Plant
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 24, 2016
Approaching Sunset In The Cumberlands
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 24, 2016
Approaching Sunset In The Cumberlands
Pink Lady's-slipper Orchid ( Cypripedium acaule )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 26, 2016
Pollen Producing Stamens
Fire Pink ( Silene virginica )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 26, 2016
First Dwarf Iris's Of Season
Dwarf Crested Iris ( Iris cristata )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 26, 2016
Beginning To Bloom
Violet Wood-sorrel ( Oxalis violacea )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 26, 2016
Fleabane Species ( Erigeron spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 26, 2016
Another Cultivated Form
White Daffodil ( Narcissus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
A Buttercup Species ( Ranunculus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Fleabane Species Erigeron spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
A Buttercup Species ( Ranunculus spp. )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Mating Crickets ( Gryllidae Family )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
An Asteraceae Family Pappus Head
Common Dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Wild Azalea ( Rhododendron periclymenoides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Cold Air Drainage In Cumberland Mountains
Wild Azalea ( Rhododendron periclymenoides )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 27, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
A Yellow-Orange Variation Variety
Flame Azalea ( Rhododendron calendulaceum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 30, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
An Allium Species Following A Rain Shower
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 30, 2016
Fresh New Fronds
Cumberland Mountains
New York Fern ( Parathelypteris noveboracensis )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved

April 30, 2016
Cumberland Mountains
Sugar Maple Leaf ( Acer saccharum )
Photograph by Wayne Browning - © All Rights Reserved