A bit of botanical eye candy

I've been wanting to post some more photos from our Adams County expedition of a few weekends ago, but time has been tight. So, here are some of those photos, with sparse narration. A group of botanical enthusiasts goes gaga over the spectacle of rare goldenstar lilies, Erythronium rostratum, along a heavily wooded Scioto County lane.

A giant red oak, Quercus rubra, dwarfs tree-hugging Tricia West at Whipple State Nature Preserve, Adams County.

The young rosette leaves of American Columbo, Frasera caroliniensis, bead with the droplets left by a spring shower. This odd gentian can tower to over six feet in height when it blooms.

Toadshade, Trillium sessile, in bud.

Densely white-villous (fuzzy) buds of a wood poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum, which is one of our most striking spring wildflowers.

The coppery-tinged expanding leaves of a young yellow buckeye, Aesculus flava.

Tiny lemony-yellow flower clusters festoon early-blooming spicebush, Lindera benzoin.

The purplish-blue flowers of hepatica, Hepatica nobilis, struggle to fully open on a cloudy day.

Gleaming and radiant, the starburst blossom of a bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, explodes to life. Ephemeral in the extreme, the flower lasts but a day, if that.

Yet more ephemeral are the petals of twinleaf, Jeffersonia diphylla. The slightest of jostles causes them to tumble to the ground.

Always a special treat is the discovery of tiny and bizarre pennywort gentians, Obolaria virginica. These little plants sometimes remain concealed by leaf litter, and they are frequently overlooked.