Aplectrum hyemale; Orchidaceae (orchid family)

At last, at last, I have seen a native orchid in the wild.

Puttyroot grows a single leaf at ground level in the autumn.  The leaf persists through the winter and spring, and is mostly or entirely dead and gone by the time the flowers open.  The flower spike stands about 12″; each flower is about 1/2″ wide.

Here it is from about 3 feet away, hiding in a bunch of ferns:

…with Adobe Lightroom.  Almost every picture I’ve published has been untouched by Lightroom, except for cropping.  But have a look at these two:

The original picture (on the right) was taken with the 35mm lens, at ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/50 sec.  I adjusted a few factors (though not color).  Is this cheating?  I don’t think so.  My intent is to show a clear picture of the plant in bud.

I like Lightroom.

The plant, by the way, is puttyroot.  It will be FOTD when (if) I catch it in bloom – maybe later today?

Salvia lyrata; Lamiaceae (mint family)

It’s that time of year – the time when the mint family plants start blooming.  They’re one of the dominant families in this area.  (Last year I saw more in this family than any other except the pea and aster families.)

The second picture is from last year, taken with the iphone; it’s the only half-decent one showing the basal leaves for which the plant is named.

fringe tree   Chionanthus virginicus   Oleaceae (olive family)

I keep wondering why people don’t garden with natives more often.  I had a fringe tree at my previous house; it was one of a dozen or so landscape plants that I regret leaving behind.  I discovered a fringe tree near Carderock last spring by literally walking into a low hanging branch.  This year, I was told “it’s all over the place”.  But when it isn’t flowering, it looks like, well, just another tree.  A highly fragrant tree, though, so you can find it by following your nose when it is in flower.

It was difficult to get even a half-decent picture of an entire tree.  There just isn’t enough contrast for the flowers to show.  But here’s a look at a small branch: 

Isn’t that just nifty?

So for years now I’ve been scouring the Billy Goat B and C trails in C&O Canal NHP for wildflowers, while hardly ever bothering with the trail that’s about 100 yards from my house.  I had hiked parts of the Cabin John Trail a few times not long after moving here.  The trail is in bad condition, overused, and there are a lot of invasive plants along it.  I figured it would be a showcase of English ivy and lesser celandine, so I hadn’t hiked it in more than a year.

I wasn’t wrong, but boy was I stupid.  I’ve been a few times in the last two weeks and was shocked at the diversity of native plants in this one and a half mile stretch, which includes three I’ve never seen at C&O.

dwarf ginseng (Panax trifolius; Araliaceae): 

wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum; Papaveraceae):

wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia; Ranunculaceae):