#botrypus virginianus

[vandaliatraveler]

Elizabeth’s Woods, part of the Toms Run Preserve system, is located just a few minutes from where I work: a convenient little Eden on whose gentle, winding trails I frequently relieve my accumulated angst and stress. In early spring, especially in the late afternoon, the old woods take on a soft, burnished glow that penetrates every leaf and flower, exposing nature’s finest filigree - veins, venules, stigmas, anthers and more - in intricate detail.

From top: a rocky alcove overrun by giant blue cohosh (Caulophyllum giganteum); a purple variation of dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne), a toxic little beauty whose flowers remind me of parachuting wizards; an even lovelier lavender and white variation of the same plant; a tall and stately Jack-in-the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum); a smooth blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium), equally beautiful in spring and fall, when its foliage turns reddish-purple; bigfruit hawthorn (Crataegus macrosperma) with new spring blossoms; woodland stonecrop (Sedum ternatum), whose massed white flowers look like clumps of snow in the leaf litter; and an unfurling Virginia grape fern (Botrypus virginianus), also known as rattlesnake fern due to its tendency to grow in the same habitats in which rattlesnakes occur.

[gbwnatureblog]

Rattlesnake fern (Botrypus virginianus ) uncoiling

[vandaliatraveler]

I got some COVID relief time this afternoon at Toms Run Preserve, where the first wave of spring wildflowers has faded away and been succeeded by the next one. Among the new arrivals: violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea): Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum); heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia); aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis); hooked buttercup (Ranunculus recurvatus); and wild comfrey (Cynoglossum virginianum). Meanwhile, golden ragwort (Packera aurea) and azure bluets (Houstonia caerulea) are just reaching peak form. A few more highlights from my visit: blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium); an enormous Dryad’s saddle bracket fungus (Cerioporus squamosus); and Virginia grape fern (Botrypus virginianus), an unusually beautiful plant also referred to as rattlesnake fern.