Indian Pipe

One of my favorite wildflowers is Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora). After two days of very hard rain in early July, these flowers popped up all over our woods. I had never seen so many Indian Pipes in one place. While Indian Pipes are not rare, neither are they very common. But in mid-July, there were clumps of Indian Pipes wherever I looked.

Indian Pipes are a ghostly translucent white. Each stem bears one flower. Since they have no chlorophyll, they are parasitic and get their nutrients through fungi in the soil.

When they first emerge, the flowers are "nodding" -- facing downward. As the plants mature, the flowers become upright.

A close-up of the flowers.

As the seeds develop, the plants turn black and dry up.

A closely related plant, Pinesap (Monotropa hypopithys) is "uncommon", if not "rare". I've only seen it once -- last summer at Douthat State Park.

Pinesaps are generally yellow-orange. They have multiple flowers per stem.

At first glance, many people think that Indian Pipes are a fungus. They're not. When I was first introduced to these strange little plants in the early 1970s, I was told that they were in the Orchidaceae (orchid family). Like orchids, these plants require specific fungal and plant communities to survive. But my wildflower books of that vintage (Peterson, Newcomb) put them in the Pyrolidaceae (Wintergreen or Pyrola family). Today the Pyrolideae is a subfamily of the Ericaceae (heath family). Some sources have put the Monotropa genus in its own family, Monotropaceae or as the Monotropoideae subfamily in the Ericaceae. Taxonomy has gotten so complicated! Regardless, I have say that I find it difficult to find these plants related to blueberries, mountain laurel, and rhododendron!

Bicycling in the Deep South

After Atlanta we spent three days visiting family and riding bike trails in Georgia and Alabama.

Chattahoochee Riverwalk Trail in Columbus, Georgia

The Riverwalk trail mostly follows the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, then leaves the river and ends at the top of the hill in a residential area of Ft. Benning. (If you've seen the movie We Were Soldiers, you've seen this part of Ft. Benning.)

Columbus sits upon the "fall line" shown above. That's the point where rivers in the eastern US become rocky and are no longer navigable by barges. It's where the coastal plain meets the piedmont, and gave rise to many important cities.

This is a new pedestrian bridge crossing the Chattahoochee connecting Columbus, Georgia, and Phenix City, Alabama.

Below the fall line, the Chattahoochee is tranquil, smooth, and shallow.

One part of the longest bridge along the trail.

Not exactly the usual signs along bike trails!

Chief Ladiga Trail

The Chief Ladiga Trail may be the flattest rail-trail we've been on. It's also paved, making it possible to do our first 50-mile ride (from the trail head near Anniston to the 9-mile marker east of Piedmont). Two days later we started in Piedmont and finished the ride to the Alabama-Georgia state line and the start of the (also paved) Silver Comet Trail.

Milepost 0 on the Chief Ladiga Trail. Although it was about a 150 ft climb from Piedmont, it hardly felt like it was uphill. The downhill return, though, was great!

We rode about 1/2 mile on the Silver Comet -- just enough to get to the Esom Hill trail head near its start.

Atlanta

We spent the weekend in Atlanta celebrating Lon's mom's 90th birthday. The entire family was there: five sons, four daughter-in-laws, ten grandchildren with seven spouses/fiancees/significant others, and two great-grandchildren (with one more on the way). Atlanta was a great central location with easy airline connections for family coming in from thirteen different states. (Let's see if I can get them all: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. This week we can add Maryland to the list!)

All of us in one room.

Saturday, we all went to Turner Field to see the Braves play (and lose to) the Colorado Rockies.

On our way to the Midtown Marta station.

Turner Field

Having a good time at the game.

More of Atlanta:

Across the street from our hotel was a very small urban vineyard.

We haven't had a full family photo since the Taj Mahal in September 2014. Amos wasn't cooperating!

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the spectacular Georgia Aquarium.

The large ocean tank is the main attraction. You can spend hours watching the fish. (It's no surprise that one of the very first computer screen savers was an aquarium simulation.)

A variety of rays are in the tank.

The main attraction, though, are the enormous whale sharks.

A variety of jellyfish were also fascinating.

Cicadas

My attention for the last six weeks has been occupied by the Field Ecology Governor's School. Now it's time to resume this blog.

It's been 17 years since the cicadas last invaded this part of North America. This is the year for Brood V of the the 17-year-cicada to emerge in this part of Virginia. The range extends from here up to Lake Erie covering most of West Virginia and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. www.magicicada.org has all the details. I remember 1999 as having many more cicadas -- covering roads, trees, and walls. This year seemed more subdued.

The cicadas emerge after 17 years underground. These are holes made by emerging cicada larvae.

After emerging, the cicada larvae molt into the adult stage. [1999 photo]

A larva exoskeleton remains on a leaf.

Adult cicada and larvae exoskeletons. [1999 photo]

Adult cicada. [1999 photo]

Adult cicada

This short clip shows a cicada flitting about and has a short clip of sound. It doesn't do justice to the aural experience!

The adults mate, the females lay eggs in the trees, and after hatching, the larvae then make their way down the trees to live in the soil for 17 years. We won't see them again until 2033! The tender tips of tree limbs are damaged by the newly hatched larvae, but will recover without much damage to the trees.

Another look at "flagging" damage to trees by cicadas. The trees have 17 years to recover!