#zizea

[vandaliatraveler]

The allure of a beautiful, warm spring day in the mountains is too much for me to resist, even when most of the touristy places in the Monongahela National Forest remain on lock-down. The trails around Spruce Knob and Seneca Creek Backcountry were basically mine alone to enjoy. Among the small treasures waiting to be discovered (from top): spreading Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans); downy phlox (Phlox pilosa); Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis); hobblebush viburnum (Viburnum lantanoides); yellow marsh marigold (Caltha palustris); golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea); and pink lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule). Incidentally, the afternoon’s peace and quiet was shattered late in the day by a pair of F-22 Raptors, presumably from Langley Air Force Base, practicing low maneuvers over the mountaintops. Strange times.  

[rabbitinthemeadow]

These lush and yielding souls, trembling and listless in their eager abundance // Part 1

[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea) - Floral Prism Light

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[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea)

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[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea)

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[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea)

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[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea)

[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea)

[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

It’s been a really great past couple of days for collecting plants...

Yesterday I took a walk and got a whole bunch of fiddleheads of a few species (Sensitive Fern, Christmas Fern and a third, probably a species of Dryopteris), some pressed and some I’m going to try to dry.

I also picked picked up and pressed a few young Golden Alexander (Zizea aurea), and a few big Apple blossoms from an escapee tree from a nearby orchard, the latter of which I dried a few of for capped pendants.

Today I visited my parents and walked around the now abandoned property of their former next door neighbor; from there, I got a few pretty white violets, a couple little Forget Me Nots, Forsythia, and my personal favorite, some absolutely stunning Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles japonica) - all of these I dried a little for capped bullets and pressed the rest.

Plus, I picked a huge haul of Bleeding Hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) flowers I’ll be making into small herbarium pendants.