Hike at Mayapple Glen

Mom and I went on a little walk behind Papaw Melvin's house today and decided to nickname it Mayapple Glen, because the Mayapples were thick as a blanket over much of the valley. We have had a lot of rain the past couple of days leaving everything green, green, green. I love the smell of a forest after a fresh rain. I was so happy to spot a couple Jack-In-The -Pulpit plants. The pulpit that surrounds jack is not the flower, it is a leaf bract.

We also spotted several Yellow Lady's Slipper plants. These plants have a very interesting pollination process. They require a specific fungi to be present in their roots in order to survive, and their bigger Pink counter parts are pretty rare.

Here is the bloom of the Mayapple. To find one of the blooms you need to spot a plant with two stems. When I was little I can remember calling these little plants Smurf homes. I guess it was the shape, because they are not a brightly colored toadstool, but it was still fun to imagine.

We also spotted several other flowers that I tried to ID when I got home. I think that we found:
Prairie Ragwort
Daisy Fleabane
Golden Star
Hoary Puccoon