 |
Buck Creek Barrens Fall 2025 Hike |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
|
Buck Creek Barrens Fall 2025 Hike |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2025) |
| September 22, 2025 Elaine, Jo, Merle, Brenda and I recreated (more or less) a hike that we had done here in early October 2024. It was actually more of a "meander" than a hike, as we spent most of the time looking at plants and anything else that looked interesting. |
|
 |
|
| Nodding Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes cernua complex) |
|
 |
|
| Spiranthes cernua |
|
 |
|
| Appalachian Gentian (Gentiana decora) |
|
 |
|
| Merle, Bruce, Brenda, Jo {Photo by Elaine} |
|
 |
|
| Caterpillar of Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia) |
|
 |
|
| Stiff Gentian (Gentianella quinquefolia) |
|
 |
|
| Caterpillar of Banded Tussock Moth (Halysidota tessellaris) |
|
 |
|
| Merle, Brenda, Bruce, Jo I was pointing out something... {Photo by Elaine} |
|
 |
|
| Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) It's pretty at this time of year... |
|
 |
|
| Mountain Black Cohosh, aka Mountain Bugbane (Actaea podocarpa) The seldom-traveled gated FS road here had been recently mowed/bush-hogged. This was the only one of these we saw, with just a few remaining flowers that hadn't been scalped. |
|
 |
|
| Another Appalachian Gentian (Gentiana decora) |
|
 |
|
| Beech Drops (Epifagus virginiana), a parasite of Beech roots |
|
 |
|
| Along the way {Photo by Merle} |
|
 |
|
| Orange-Fruited Horse Gentian (Triosteum aurantiacum) Not a true Gentian. These were also in the area along the FS road that had been bush-hogged, and the top of the plant had been whacked off. |
|
 |
|
| We took a side path down to one of the smaller Fringed Gentian sites. |
|
 |
|
| Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) |
|
 |
|
| An uncommon plant here in NC, even more so home in Georgia. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
| Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) |
|
 |
|
| A nice trio of Gentianopsis |
|
 |
|
| Large-leaf Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia grandifolia) |
|
 |
|
| Another Nodding Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes cernua) |
|
 |
|
| The area around this "pond becoming a bog" is usually one of the first places where I see fall color, but it was still a little early. |
|
 |
|
| Fritillary on Ironweed |
|
 |
|
| Monarch on Ironweed {Photo by Elaine} |
|
 |
|
| Our hike group... Bruce, Elaine, Merle, Jo, Brenda |