What’s been happening on the trail for the last couple of weeks? Have you noticed all the different yellow, daisy-like flowers? I wrote a blog about them here. I have seen kidneyleaf rosinweed, purpledisc sunflowers and small-headed sunflowers blooming on the trails in the last couple of weeks. The midwestern tickseed-sunflowers, swamp sunflowers, rough sunflowers, hairy leafcups, whorled coreopsis and starry rosinweeds are still in bloom.
You might have noticed a lot of small, pink, pea-shaped flowers. Most of them are different types of tick-trefoils. You have to look at the shape of the plant, the seed pod, the stem and the leaves to distinguish between the many varieties.
The large clumps of fragrant white flowers are two different types of clematis. You can distinguish between the two by looking at their leaves. Another vine with small white flowers blooming everywhere is the white morning glory.
I found some scarlet rose mallow next to a retention pond on the Shiloh Greenway this week. I have seen it next to ponds on other trails in previous years, but I haven’t seen any this year. Wingleaf primrose is another plant that can be seen in many wet areas right now.
Have you seen the Maryland senna on the Crabtree Creek Greenway? Or the Carolina silkgrass on the Shiloh Greenway? What else are you seeing on the trails?