NC, Smokies, 20060531
CabinCove, MM and pond, mostly flowers.
Chrysosplenium americanum
In Misty Mellow spring; past fr, though a few stamens and undehisced frs are left.
| | GEN | | creeping tangled mass, succulent |
| | LF | | opp, suborb, cren, glab |
| | PET | | none or 4 v tiny purple oblong spots |
| | STAM | | 8, short, att around a broad oblong hyp disc |
| | OV | | 2, semiinf, ov, green, glab |
| | FR | | 2 lobed cap, 2 chamb, green, glab, 3 (more?) seeds per chamb |
| | SEED | | ttniy dk brown shiny glab round things |
Prunus americana?
Just up the slope from the pond on the way to see those weird orchids; no fl or fr.
| | ST | | short spur brs present, no thorns or thorn-like sts, shiny lt brown, glabrate |
| | LF | | ellip-lance, acum, wedge, 100% finely 2-serr, teeth 1.8mm side and 0.8mm other side & pointing forward to incurved a bit, puber in axils of veins bel and along pet and cil at v base, all veins rather raised bel, med green ab, sl lter bel, dull both sides, 70x30+6mm, no glands present |
Wofford suggests:
P. americana,
P. avium,
P. persica, and
P. virginianum.
RA&B rules out
P. virginianum and
P. avium.
P. persica has much longer lvs.
Ranunculus allegheniensis
End of Misty Mellow just inside the woods from the old road; in full fr, no fl parts left.
| | GEN | | tall, br'd ab, all glab |
| | LF | | | basal | | reniform to orbixcular, strongly cord, bi-cren |
| caul | | palmate, lobes from 3-dentate to simple and tapered to blunt rounded tip, 3-5 lflts |
glab |
| | STIP | | just cil enlargement at base of petioles |
| | FR | | round, flat, smooth, glab, body 1.5mm, hooked beak to 0.5-0.6mm high (then curving back so 50% or more longer if you straighten it) |
No way it is
R. abortivus which has a mostly straight beak to 0.3mm only.
Ranunculus acris
Tobacco Road; in full fl.
| | GEN | | tall, erect to decumb |
| | ST | | v d long spread pil bel to sp tightly appress strig ab |
| | LF | | big, deeply dissected, segs long acute, as narrow as 3mm, d long pubesc |
| | PET | | 10x11mm, yell, scale 0.5x0.5mm cupped triangular rounded |
| | OV | | v flat, smooth, v hooked |
Ranunculus hispidus-group
Where?
| | SEP | | reflex but easily decid, yellish, pil |
| | PET | | yell, 10x8mm, obov, rounded, scale 0.7x0.8mm rounded cuneate scale |
| | OV | | flat, ellip, tip not hooked (but not exactly straight) |
Keys to both
R. fascicularis and
R. hispidus in
Wofford, but
RA&B only has the latter, calling these nd
Ranunculus caronlinianus and
R. septentrionalis a polymorphic complex.
Ranunculus recurvatus
In lawn on old road to pond in damp spot; starting to fr.
| | LF | | 3-lobed cut halfway, lobes deeply dentate, wider than long, d long pil esp petiole |
| | SEP | | reflex, 3mm, one or two pil hairs |
| | PET | | 4.5x1.7mm, oblong-oblance, rounded tip, pale yell, scale 0.3x0.2 acute min scale-like cup |
| | FR | | flat, smooth, round, tip v reflex (actually rather coiled) |
Another one:
| | LF | | deeply 3-lobed, lobes narr lin and rounded, glab |
But fruit and sepals are the same. Maybe it is
R. abortivus and I just didn't get any basal lvs which are suppoed to be entire or at least simple.
Ranunculus repens
By stream-crossing in field across from Tobacco Road; in full fl, sepals fallen off.
| | GEN | | repent, rooting at nodes |
| | LF | | ternate, segs deeply 3-lobed and those lobes dentate, ascending pubesc all over, v sl lt green splotched |
| | SEP | | easily decid I can never find any |
| | PET | | 11x8mm, scale at base 1x1.2mm & att at base & v sl notched trunc tip |
| | OV | | lt green, curved tip, smooth, recept long silky hairy |
Trifolium campestre
In rock garden by sun-room; in full fl, waiting for frs.
| | LF | | pin| lflt | | 3, obov, 11x7+0mm, min dent ab, maybe v sp strig |
rachis 2.5mm, petiole 6mm, petiole and rachis d strig |
| | STIP | | lance, 7x3mm, acum, strig |
| | INFL | | short oblong heads, 12x10mm, rounded, 40+ fls, rachis d silky |
| | PET | | vivid yell, 5x3x1mm total, banner plicate, fused to base of stam tube |
Just took some pictures of these flowers around rock garden and field behind the house, mostly just testing out the new camera:
Houstonia purpurea
Leucanthemum vulgare []
Lonicera japonica (from interstate exit)
Potentilla simplex
Rubus allegheniensis
Sisyrinchium angustifolium []
Veronica serpyllifolia
Grasses
Danthonia sericea
All over fallow fields; in full fl.
| | GEN | | tall, peren w short rhiz?, not cesp, covering large areas loosely, decumb |
| | LF | | short, curled up, pil ab blade and collar and sheath esp bel |
| | INFL | | short pan, 50x5-15mm, 10 or so spklts, brs erect to ascending in age, 1 br per node, 1 spklt per node, 1-2 spklts per br, puber |
| | SPKLT | | 11x2x1mm (excl awns), lat comp, ellip, 7+ fls| gls | | 11mm and 9mm, long acute, no awn, 3-5 veins, wide scar marg, v min ant scaber on keel ab |
| lem | | 3mm + 5-6mm awn, silky strig all over, 5 faint veins, scar marg |
| awns | | from back of lemmas near top, golden and flat and corkscrewed bel, top 3-4mm green to reddish and scaber and straight but spreading in all directions due to twists bel |
|
Holcus lanatus
All over field behind house and scattered along road; starting to fl.
| | GEN | | tall, decumb, no rhiz, 1 st, all v d velvety soft pubesc |
| | LF | | broad, flat, top one hides young infl, 6-13mm wide, sheath 100% open |
| | LIG | | short trunc to rounded scar memb, entire |
| | FR | | lance, acum, purplish w white tip, sp puber?, 3mm |
| | SPKLT | | 2 fls, both bisex, 4-5mm, lat comp, lance| gls | | 3.5-4.5mm and 4-5mm, 1 and 3 veins, whitish scar w green to reddish veins, sp sh strig esp ab and d long clear strig-bristly along veins, acute, upper gl often sl bidentate and/or min aristate |
| lem | | 2-3mm, shiny, 7 v faint veins, awned from near tip, tip min bidentate, awn 1.5-2.0mm, some awns golden-brown and coiled bel, strig-bristly up back and cil marg, sp cobwebby bel base |
| pal | | 1.5-2mm, 2 veins, cil veins |
|
I cannot key this to genus to save my life. It seems clear no one has ever seen this plant before. ;) Okay, seems the upper fl is staminate
meaning the tiny ovary and style I saw in it are vestigial, not just underformed.
Lolium perenne
On berm around pondl; not in fl yet but fully formed.
| | INFL | | alt sess spklts on either side of main rachis, spklts edge-on to axis |
| | SPKLT | | many fls, gl < spklt |
Only one listed in
Wofford.
RA&B gives more options, but still keys clearly to the same one.
Panicum laxiflorum []
All over in lawns around pond and on old road to pond; in full fl.
| | LF | | flat, blade and sheath v d v long pil, 8mm wide, relatively short, reduced ab, sheath 100% open |
| | INFL | | v open pan, ~100x100mm, ovate, 1-brs spread more or less 90deg, 1-few 1-brs per node, 1 spklt per node, long pil |
| | SPKLT | | 2mm, ellip and flat on one side, dors comp, 1 fert fl ab 1 ster fl, fert fl firmer| up gl and low lem | | 2mm, broad, d pil, 7 veins, obtuse |
| low pal | | 1.1mm, scar, obtuse |
| up lem | | 1.5mm, shin, lt, no veins apparent, broad |
|
RA&B key sucks for this one.
Wofford suggests:
P. capillare,
P. virgatum,
P. laxiflorum. (I'm eliminating ones with "basal rosette... eventually branching at least somewhat from upper nodes", though I feel far from confident.) At any rate, the last matches in every detail.
Mushrooms
Hygrocybe chlorophana
Scattered in moist leaf debris.
| | ST | | fragile, 3-4mm thick, hollow, splits easily lengthwise, slimy |
| | CAP | | 20mm or so, irreg convex to flat, slimy, bright vivid yellow |
| | GILL | | adnate, ~1mm apart, a bit wavy, 3mm or so thick, "waxy", pale yell |
| | SPORE | | print white, colorless, 5.5x4.0um, ellip to oblong, smooth, 1 cell |
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