A September’s Day on Hunting Property | Accent on Natural Landscaping

My husband, John, and I met my brother Doug at the hunting property this fall. This was the first time that I had been out there since my stroke.

Last year, I spent a pleasant two days there after the first weekend of deer season (November 22-26, 2019). I finished the outline for my memoir book, and on Tuesday I went home. Then…Wednesday night, at 11:44 p.m., I had a stroke.

Our hunting property is rocky, sand, gravely with loam and peat. It is hardwoods, cedar swamp, and shrub wetland (shrub-carr). That day I walked the lane out to Doug’s stand and passed the wonderful flowers, trees, and the sedges. I had a delightful time.

So many flowers to see. Here are some of them. (Click a single photo – then click the photo again for a larger view.)

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) brings joy to the winter season with its brightly colored red berries. May-July. Grows in low grounds, moist woods, swamps, streams and occasionally in higher, drier soils. Berries will persist throughout the winter, hence the common name.

Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) is distinguished by the lack of hairs on its smooth foliage and stems. August-October. Full to partial sun, dry to mesic conditions. Its late-season blooms attracts many pollinators.

Grass Sedge (Carex Jamesii) is a woodland sedge which develops early in April-July. Partial sun to medium shade, mesic conditions, ledges and bottoms. The thin, shiny green leaves can be seen in large clumps, and the abruptly beaked fruits are a characteristic also.

White Turtleneck (Chelone glabra) with a Misumena spider, commonly called flower crab spider. The flowers resemble the head of a turtle, hence the common name. It has narrower leaves than other turtleheads, like to Pink Turtleheads (Cheloe obliqua) that grows in my prairie. July-September. Damp, wooded habitats. The bitter foliage is avoided by mammals.

White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) is usually in shady wooded areas. June-September. Although it is often referred to as Eupatorium rugosum, its hairless leaves distinguish them from other bonesets by their wide leaves.

The leftover Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera psycodes) eaten by the deer is shown with the photograph of the blossom. June-August. Moist conditions: meadows, woods, forests, streambanks. The Greek word for psychodes, meaning “butterfly-like,” a reference to the appearance of the flowers.

Flat-topped White Aster (Doellingeria umbellata). July-September. Dry to wet meadows, wet woods, forest edges. The Flat-Topped (Doellingeria) Aster is related to the different hair lengths of its tufted achenes. The outer hairs are less than 1 mm in length, while the inner hairs are 3-6 mm in length.

Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata) is relatively easy to identify. (Photo is blossom at left-hand side.) Its calyxes become conspicuously inflated from the developing seed capsules unlike most lobelias. July-October. Partial sun, moist forests to dry conditions. The acrid foliage is highly toxic to mammals.

Slender Ladies’ Tresses (Spiranthes gracills) averages six to 18 inches tall. The small white blossoms, anywhere up to 40, is arranged in a tight spiral. A green spot is present on the lip of each flower and somewhat rolled inward. July-August. Dry to moist meadows, prairies, barrens, open woods and dunes.

The Cinnamon Ostrich Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) fiddleheads fronds are only slightly narrowed at the base. They change from green to a bright orange-brown color, hence the common name. April-June. Stream and river floodplains; part shade, under the canopy of red and silver maples and brown ash.

The Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum) refers to the diverse colors of the disk florets as they mature. They are initially pale yellow, but later become brown or reddish purple. August-October. Light shade to partial sun, woodland and semi-moist conditions. Full sun is tolerated, not too dry.

Dyer’s Weed (Solidago nemoralis) is a small goldenrod that blooms later than most. The flowers are located on the upper side of the downward-arching stem. It forms in clumps. The bright yellow flowers are narrow and wand-like. August-October. Dry open woods and prairies, sand and rock soil.

Lion’s Foot (Prenanthes alba) or Rattlesnake Root or White Lettuce makes a good salad. August-October. Wet to dry woods and forests, rocky places, bluffs, rocky ravines and wooded slopes or borders. Notice the leaf and its “lion’s-foot” shape; hence the common name.

The Bracket Fungus (Ganoderma applanatum), sometimes called “artist’s fungus,” has been the site of the intricate and beautiful etchings in craft stores and yard sales. Features include its unvarnished, furrowed and lumpy, dull brown cap surface; its white to grayish pore surface (which bruises brown); and its woody, brownish or cinnamon flesh. Often occurs at the base of trees, particularly oak, beech and conifers, but more often on fallen or felled trunks and large branches.

The Bluebead Lily or Yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis) is an elegant blue seed pod. Bluebead grows in clumps and can form large colonies, most normally in the woods where the Pink Ladyslippers orchids grow. May-June. Medium to wet forests, bogs or swamps. Borealis means “of the north,” where it thrives in the boreal forests in northeastern United States.

Pink Ladyslipper (Cypripedium acaule) orchid or Moccasin Flower has become more prominent as the woodland has received less moisture over the years. The remaining leaves are two opposite basal leaves with conspicuous parallel veins. The flower is a large pink blossom at the end of an erect stalk (pictured). April-June. Acid soil, bogs, dry woods and forests, cliffs, inland sands. Pink Ladyslipper seeds require threads of the Rhizoctonia species of fungus to break open the seed and attach to it. Typical of most orchid species, this mutually beneficial relationship is known as “symbiosis.”*

*”Pink Ladyslippers also require bees for pollination. Bees are lured into the flower pouch through the front slit, attracted by the flower’s bright color and sweet scent. Once inside, the bees find no reward, and discover that they are trapped, with only one point of escape. Inside the pouch, there are hairs that lead to a pair of exit openings, one beneath each pollen mass. The bee must pass under the stigma, so if it bears any pollen from a visit to another flower, it will be deposited before picking up a fresh load on the way out.” (USDA US Forest Service)

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