Today we were in the Blackwater River State Forest and went first to the Dunn Branch Bayhead. If you want to know more about what bayheads are, read my entry under 11/26/2021 (26.11.2021). Around the bayhead, R. canescens and R. viscosum var. aemulans were just starting to bloom, but were still far from peak. A few specimens of Sarracenia rosea were also particularly pretty to look at. In Dunn Branch itself, Orontium aquaticum, a type of arum with a golden yellow inflorescence, was in one spot. R. serrulatum was growing next to it.
We then headed toward the Blackwater River and explored a site at Kelly Spring Branch. At one place there was a R. canescens without any flower tubes or petals at all, so its flowers consisted only of stamens, which gave the whole plant an extremely exotic appearance. Just a few meters away, right by the black, murky water, R. serrulatum grew near a dilapidated bridge. A spooky place, although I had been there many times before. After that, we looked around at the bridge that crosses neighboring Middle Creek. There was Kalmia latifolia in bloom and we found a strange R. canescens with pointed petals that could possibly be a hybrid with R. viscosum var. aemulans.
