Green Tree Frog near Willie Duke's Bluffs

Wild Comfrey (Cynoglossum virginianum)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs in Durham

Rue anenome (Thalictrum thalictroides) at Bobbitt's Hole in Durham

Also called "Wind flower." I recently learned that the scientific name means thalictrum that kind of looks like a thalictrum.

At Bobbitt's Hole in Durham

Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) at Bobbitt's Hole

Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) at Bobbitt's Hole in Durham

Am excited to have found this plant at the Sarah P. Duke garden sale!

Leaving Willie Duke's Bluffs...

Along the railroad track.  What a beautful stand of redbud trees.  

Early saxifrage (Saxifraga virginiensis)

Love the name "Saxifrage"(rock-breaker) as if a flower could break through rocks.  They apparently do.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs.

American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia)

Enchanted bamboo forest

 Who knew there was an enchanted bamboo forest in the middle of Durham, NC?

Rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens)

 Variegated leaf.  Leaf is like a rattlesnake skin.

Solomon's Plume (Maianthemum racemosum)

People are saying that this is blooming 2-3 weeks earlier than usual.

Trout Lily fruit

Umbilicatum on left (dimpled) vs. Americanum on right (noticeable protrusion). The umbilicatum fruit lies on the forest floor while the americanum stands upright.

Smooth yellow violet (Viola pensylvanica)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs.

Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum)

Mayapple in bloom (Podophyllum peltatum)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs.

Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs.

Pawpaw Tree (Asimina triloba)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs.

Pussytoes (Antennaria solitaria)

 Near Willie Duke's Bluffs...

Pussytoes (Antennaria solitaria)

 Approaching the railroad tracks near Willie Duke's Bluffs.

Army Corps of Engineers land, near Stagville, NC

Our view upon leaving the area near the Flat River. See you next year, isopyrum, wild ginger, dutchman's breeches, corydalis, sweet cecily, trout lilies, mayapples, hackberry trees, painted buckeyes, violets, toothwort, blood root. Also starring: eastern towhees, small brown spiders, grape vines, corn fields, diabase rock. Thanks to the Eno River Assocation!

Tree-of-heaven? (ailanthus altissima)

We cut it down… hopefully it was invasive. Freshly cut, it smelled like watermelon... with a lingering hint of peanut butter. Latin name makes me think of an extremely tall, sick tree.

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) near Flat River

Pawpaw (asimina triloba), pre-flower, near Flat River

Apparently the fruits, blooming in June or so, are nearly impossible to find. The wildlife gobble them up before we have a chance to appreciate them.