May Wildflowers - White Oak and Upland Trail at Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve

 May 2023 - Photos and Prose by Melissa Fey

The early Spring Wildflowers are coming to end.  Soon the woods will be warm and muggy with swarming Mosquitoes, making hiking unpleasant.  You have to wear layers of clothes and spray to protect your self from the bites, which takes most of the fun out of the effort.  The woods are also getting extremely overgrown and looking more like a green jungle.  Hard to differentiate one group of green leaves and flowers from another.

Yet hiking in May is still full of surprises and beautiful blooms.  Early morning is always the best time to go, the dew leaves beautiful droplets shining in the morning sun.


The spider webs cover the prairie as we walk towards the woods into the morning sun.



The Prairie Dock is sprouting its large leaves that will soon cover the sides of the trail as you are heading east from the parking lot at the Loblolly Marsh Nature Preserve.  The Wild Bergamot can also be seen.  Even touching the leaves you can recognize the distinctive smell, the plants soon blossoming with the pretty purple blooms.

Prairie Dock (brown stems are last years blooms)



Wild Bergamot starting to grown (plants will get about 3 feet tall with beautiful purple blooms showing in late July or August)  

As you enter the woods on the Upland Trail, you get a true feel of the Marsh. 

I recognize many of the Spring Wildflowers,  My favorites are the ones I can name by seeing the leaves, even without the blooms being present.  However, there are always some that look familiar but I just can't quite name and have to look up and relearn  every Spring.  And then once I identify them it is like, oh yeah I remember that one.
Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza claytonii) is one of these. The distinctive leaves are easy to spot, but once the plant starts blooming it is an easy one to identify.  A member of the Parsley Family,  The compound umbel blooms of bright white make it undeniably easy to pick out. 





The Commom Flea Bane (Erigeron philadelphicus) is starting to bloom.  It is the host plant for the Lynx Flower Moth. It is a native plant that most people consider to be a weed, however bees love the nectar and they can use all the help we can give them.  It is a member of the Daisy family. The roots can be made into a tea or chewed to treat colds and coughs. Early settlers kept dried Fleabane in their homes to dispel gnats and fleas, therefore the name. 



The May Apples (Podophyllum peltatum)are in full bloom now and easily recognizable to most people. Every part of the May Apple (leaves, stalk, root and bloom) are poisonous. The only portion that isn't poisonous is the "apple". Turtles are extremely fond of the May Apple fruit. 

 Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) grows in many areas along the Upland Trail. This is not the same type of Ginger like we use to cook with. Native Americans used it to treat upset stomach, indigestion and cramps. The root contains antibiotic substances. The blooms are brown and found at the base of the leaves. Once you know what the leaves look like they can be easily spotted along the trail.
trail is being encroached by vegetation

small brown blooms of  Wild Ginger at base of plant


woods has lots of under brush now
Next I visited the woods surrounding the White Oak Cemetery.  The undergrowth here was also very thick and it was surprising how much it had changed in just two short weeks, since I had last visited. 
The Shooting Stars were still blooming, but were starting to develop seeds heads. 

Seeds starting to develop



The Spider Wort (Tradescantia occidentalis) has the most beautiful blue blooms.  Right now you will find them growing in several different areas of the Limberlost.  There is a nice grouping close to the Pavilion at the Lobolly Marsh NP. 


 
The Wild Blue Phlox (Pholx divaricata) is still blooming.  This must be one of the first and last wild flowers to bloom.  I used to not think much about it because it is such a common flower.  But, I have truly learned to appreciate the beauty it adds to woods.

The Pearly Everlasting ( Anaphalis margaritacea) is still blooming with many of the plants going to seed.  I had never seen them do this before.



Well Spring is soon coming to end.  The walks in the woods to see and identify the  beautiful Wildflowers that I so much love to see are like visiting old friends.  I know where many of them grow, but each Spring I am treated to new friends that I will remember to visit next year.  The good Lord willing.  
June will bring fewer visits to the woods, but now the Summer flowers of the prairie will start to emerge.  There are always wildflowers to enjoy at the Limberlost properties.  As Summer heat comes on the cooler early morning is always the best time to explore.  

See you next month!!

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