The picture of perfoliate bellwort posted on May 5 was a snapshot taken with the 35mm lens.  I was hiking with a group and didn’t want to be one of those annoying people who hold the group up while taking forever to set up the camera.  I took a few quick pictures and noted the location so I could come back later and take my time with it.

Well.  Two days later, the plant was nowhere to be found.  The day after that, I spent half an hour combing a very small area.  Nothing.

To make it even more annoying, the group leader said that she had seen sessile bellwort (a different species), though she agreed that my pictures were of perfoliate bellwort.  Damnit damnit damnit, opportunity lost.

Then I was hiking a different trail and saw three plants that I had never seen in the wild before: wood poppy, wood anemone, and dwarf ginseng.  I was with Steve, so I snapped just a few quick pictures and noted the location.  Two days later, I found one of the plants, but not the other two.  Damnit…  The pictures are enough to prove I saw the plants, but not good.

Always take the camera.  Always take the time to get a few good pictures, no matter what.  Catching a plant in bloom is a matter of timing.  The window is open for only a few days, and the window can move around by two or three weeks, especially in early spring.