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Explorations along Upper Bell Creek: June-July 2018 Southern Nantahala Wilderness Area |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2018) |
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Explorations along Upper Bell Creek: June-July 2018 Southern Nantahala Wilderness Area |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2018) |
| Various finds from several summer treks in the Upper Bell Creek vicinity of the Wilderness Area... Late June 2018: |
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| Skullcap (Scutellaria sp.) |
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| Indian Pipes, aka Ghost Flowers (Monotropa uniflora) |
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| I saw a nice variety of Coral Fungi (clavarioid) in the woods: |
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| Clavariaceae |
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| Clavariaceae |
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| Crown-tipped Coral (Artomyces pyxidatus) |
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| Clavariaceae |
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| There were also lots of other mushrooms - fungi: |
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| Button mushroom |
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| Unidentified |
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| A small Cup Fungi (left) and a Black Trumpet (Craterellus fallax) |
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| Orange Bolete(?) |
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| Fresh Bracket fungi on rotted log Perhaps Trametes pubescens... |
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| Unidentified mushroom |
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| Emerging Waxcap (Hygrocybe sp.)? |
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| Another with a cricket hiding underneath... |
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| Pair of unidentified mushrooms |
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| Perforated Ruffle (Parmotrema perforatum) lichen and broken Chanterelle |
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| Mid July: |
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| Green Woodland Orchids, aka Club-spur Orchids (Platanthera clavellata) I saw a number of these along the creek, but most were still in bud. |
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| More Black Trumpets, although this patch was pretty much gone by... |
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Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis spiloides) |
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| I think it wanted me to rub its chin... |
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| I came across some weird fungi that looked like embryos of an alien creature. A three-week progression follows: |
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| Gelatinous-covered fungi... |
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| Three days later, some of the coverings were cracking open... I later found out that these were a Calostoma species... |
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| Seven days after the first photo... |
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| Fourteen days after the first photo... The coatings had disintegrated, and the two on the left are showing yellow puffballs. |
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| Final image - twenty days after the first photo... Looks like something got into them... |
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| There were also a number of more "conventional" Calostoma in the vicinity: |
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| Pair of Calostoma sp. |
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| A week later... |
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| Two weeks after the first image... |
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| A few examples of another orchid seen in July: |
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Downy Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid (Goodyera pubescens) |
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| By late July, the Woodland Orchids were fully in bloom: |
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| Green Woodland Orchids (Platanthera clavellata) |
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| July 30: |
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| Downy Agrimony (Agrimonia pubescens) |