Epifagus virginiana; Orobanchaceae (broom-rape family)
Right before leaving on the road trip I made a quick scramble along the Cabin John Trail, and was once again rewarded. I’ve read about this parasitic plant but had never seen it before; that day, I saw dozens of them. They live off the roots of beech trees so that’s where to look for them.
The blog is still on hiatus while I travel in Nova Scotia. Here’s a scene from July 28: Potomac River just upstream of Cabin John Creek, early evening.
Flower of the Day will be sporadic until late September.
Lobelia siphilitica; Campanulaceae (bellflower family)
Another find from Cool Spring (see yesterday’s post) in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Stately plant, several feet tall. The bright blue flowers are even more stunning when you see them in the deep shade.
USDA shows this plant as unreported in Jefferson County, where I found it. Hmmm.
purple coneflower; Echinacea purpurea; Asteraceae (aster family)
Back from Montreal, and I have a few days before heading to Cape Breton Island, so I’ll write a few quick entries to autopost. No time for research and writing details.
Almost every picture I’ve posted since April I’ve taken in the Potomac River gorge, between Great Falls and the American Legion Bridge. A few were taken along Cabin John Creek, no more than 2 miles upstream of the Potomac. This one was not, though. I found this and a host of spectacular plants one afternoon at a really nifty privately owned nature preserve called Craftworks at Cool Spring, near Charles Town, West Virginia. Please click on the link to read about them, and go visit if you’re so inclined. The property is beautiful.
spicebush (Lindera benzoin) in fruit, late July 
[click on the pic to better see the detail; I love how this one came out!]
After five months of almost daily posts, this will be my last one for a few weeks. There are more than a hundred plants that I’ve identified but still haven’t written about; most of them are well past blooming now, and besides I don’t have great pictures of them. But more importantly, I’m doing some travelling -currently in Montreal, sans camera. In a few more days Steve and I will be taking a road trip to Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia). The camera’s coming on that trip, but who knows how much time I’ll spend with it. As a type A vacationer I don’t expect to be spending much time on the computer, either.
Expect the occasional random picture without much text over the next few weeks.
Much as I’m looking forward to this trip, I’m not looking forward to missing the masses of asters that are just starting to open near Carderock. Of the 327 plant species I’ve identified this year, 51 have been in the aster family – and the plants in the genus Aster are just getting going.
Elizabeth's Wildflower Blog 