Spring Pilgrimage to Calmes Neck

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

 

This year's VNPS annual pilgrimage to Calmes Neck took place under a light drizzle--a very welcome bit of rain, since our area is still under severe to extreme drought, but it was chilly. Our walk started as usual, at the top of a hill where the Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) was about finished blooming, and the dwarf Delphiniums (Delphinium tricorne) were in bud, but not yet open. The Toadshade (Trillium sessile) was also blooming--their curious flowers never fully open.

 

One lone bud of Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)

Toadshade (Trillium sessile)

 

One unusual sighting we came across was this brightly-colored jelly fungus called Witches' Butter growing on a fallen trunk.

 

Witches' Butter fungus (Tremella mesenterica)

Dropping down the hillside into a little valley, the Virginia Bluebells were out in force. I'd noticed on previous years that here and there one finds some pink as well as a few all-white flowers among the masses of bluebells, and it was explained that Bluebells are sensitive to soil PH, much like Hydrangeas, and the blue color indicates normally acidic soil, while pink indicates a more alkaline spot. The white bluebells are not albinos, but a genetic variation of the species that crops up once in a while.

 

Hillside of Virginia Bluebells.

 

 

Pink Virginia bluebells.

White Virginia Bluebells.

Bluebells along the river.

 

It was quite muddy at the bottom of the trail, and we stepped carefully, trying to avoid stomping down the Bluebells, but it was unavoidable.---they were so lush! The Harbinger-of-spring, one of the earliest of spring ephemerals, was setting seed, but the Spring Beauties, though wide-spread, were not open in the rain. The Cut-leaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) was also in bloom.

 

Harbinger-of-spring (Erigenia bulbosa) setting seed.

 

Cut-leaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)

 As we were reaching the trail parallel to the Shenandoah River, Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) and Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) began to make their appearance. It's impossible for me to distinguish the leaves of one from the other, but the flowers are certainly different. The bulblet at the roots are different colors too--as I recall, reddish or pinkish for the Squirrel Corn, cream color for the Dutchman's Breeches.

 

Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis)

A particularly lush specimen of Dutchman's Breeches

 

Getting up towards the rock ledges overlooking the river was a bit tricky, the rain made for slippery footing. I didn't dare peek at the walking ferns on a large rock, there's a precipitous drop below. The wind off the river was particularly sharp on the exposed ledges.

There were large expanses of Rue Anemones in bloom--I don't think I'd ever seen them this profuse before. These were my last photos before the charge on my phone gave out completely. 

 

Rue Anemones (Thalictrum thalictroides)

 

Expanse of Rue Anemones above the Shenandoah River.

Early saxifrage ( Micranthes virginensis) and Rattlesnakeweed (Hieracium venosum)

 I wasn't able to get any shots of the ferns that were emerging on the ledges, since I didn't have a spare camera on me. Oh well, better luck next time.

Calmes Neck

Pawpaw flowers.

 

 Last Saturday I went on the Virginia Native Plant Society's (VNPS) walk at Calmes Neck, a tract of private land overlooking the Shenandoah River a bit north of Front Royal. This is a unique site that contains a good number of native species over varied terrain: limestone cliffs with ferns and Columbines overlooking the river, and hillsides carpeted in Virginia Bluebells and other spring ephemerals.

 

Pawpaw flowers (Asimina triloba).

We started our walk at the top of a hill that was covered with Pawpaw trees in flower. There was little evidence that these flowers had been damaged by a frost earlier in the month, so I presume these trees didn't begin to flower until after the frost.

Twinleaf plants (Jeffersonia dyphilla)

Seedpod of Twinleaf.

I had hoped to sketch the twinleaf flowers after our walk, and had brought my sketchbook and kit, but due to the recent heat-wave, the plants were done flowering and had gone to seed. There was not a single flower on the entire hillside covered with these plants!

I had to console myself with the native delphiniums (Delphinium tricornis) nearby. There were a few unusual pale sports growing next to the normally deep purple flowers in this small patch near the twinleaf plants. There were also some trilliums (Trillium sessile), near the Delphiniums.

 

Delphiniums (Delphinium tricornis) on the forest floor.

Close-up of Delphinium tricornis

A pale variant of Delphinium tricornis

Toadshade (Trillium sessile)

We walked down the hillside toward the river where Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) grow in abundance. Among the bluebells we found plants of both squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis) and Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria).

 

The path by the Shenandoah River.

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

Squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis)

River floodplain filled with Virginia bluebells.

After a short stroll through the river floodplain filled with Virginia bluebells our group turned towards a high bluff overlooking the Shenandoah River. On the rocky ledges of this bluff grew a number of lovely and unusual plants: wild columbines, bulblet ferns, walking ferns, native sedums, purple cliffbrake, and spleenwort.

 

Looking down from the limestone cliffs.

Wild columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) on the rocky ledges.

 

 

Columbines and bulblet ferns (Cystopteris bulbifera).

Spring has been so dry this year that the usually green mossy rock ledges were all dried and brown; the walking ferns in particular seemed to be fried to a crisp! Still, they manage to hang on--I'm sure they'll all revive with the first abundant shower.

 

Walking fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum)

Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) with flower.

Rare purple cliffbrake fern (Pellaea atropurpurea)

Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)

Here was another rare fern--the wall rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria)--so tiny it would be easy to overlook if we didn't have an expert botanist as a guide. Other ferns and plants on the cliffs are unique to this site.

Wall rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria)

Alumroot (Heuchera villosa)

Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides)

Rock twist (Draba ramossisima)

A number of other spring blooming flowers were present: spring beauty (Claytonia virginica), harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa), cut-leaved toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia), round-leaf ragwort (Packera obovata) etc., that are by-now very familiar to me. I did learn that the tiny spring beauty flowers actually have pink pollen, and that when bees harvest their pollen, the pink pollen sacs tell us they've been visiting these spring beauties..

 

Harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa)

Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)

Round-leaf ragwort (Packera obovata)

I had brought a sandwich and my paints so that after our excursion I could stay a bit longer to paint one of these lovely flowers. I chose to do a field sketch of one of the delphimiums, which turned out quite nice. I had just finished my drawing when I felt the cool breeze presaging that some rain might be heading this way, so I packed up and left.  I had just got back on Route 50 when a shower started.

 

Watercolor field sketch of Delphinium tricornis (9" x 6").

 

I finished the watercolor in my studio at home with the help of my photos. Above is my little sketch.

Twinleaf

Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla), color pencil, 8"h x 6"w

The Blandy Sketch Group is planning their 2020 Spring Show, and the theme is "Small Works." The size of the pieces allowed is a maximum of 6" x 8."  I usually don't do art works this small, so I've been trying to produce some pieces I can submit for this show.

I chose this native spring ephemeral plant, Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) because it's small enough that I could depict it life-size and still meet the size requirements.  The plant emerges in early spring and its elegant white flowers resemble those of another early spring bloomer, Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). The leaves are distinctive, and both the common name Twinleaf and the Latin word diphylla describe their appearance: two leaflets that unfold from the stem.

I worked from a set of photos taken during my spring hikes in our local forests. Using a white pencil to draw the intricate veins of the leaves first--this acts as a resist that prevents the darker green color from covering the white--made it easier to maintain the vein structure. The complex colors of the leaves were achieved by layering a variety of green shades with the red-purple of the stems and edges of the leaves.

I'm now looking for another suitable small flower or plant for a companion piece--there are so many lovely natives to choose from! The question is, what do I have in the way of photos to work from?