tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404978790747716361.post8041425472953536600..comments2023-10-30T12:01:30.312-04:00Comments on Buford Nature's Adventures: San Felasco Trail MappingBuford Naturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14657555328626398940noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404978790747716361.post-74260475332905163482010-12-05T10:53:36.191-05:002010-12-05T10:53:36.191-05:00Blogging and beer sounds like a pretty good way to...Blogging and beer sounds like a pretty good way to pass the time!The Florida Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01479653315243145361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7404978790747716361.post-317407096994961052010-12-05T08:58:51.767-05:002010-12-05T08:58:51.767-05:00I absolutely love this orchid species!
What a nea...I absolutely love this orchid species!<br /><br />What a neat coincidence that you're blogging about this very same orchid a few days after I posted about it to my blog.<br /><br />The first time I saw <i>T. discolor</i> makes a bit of an interesting story - I had recently been gifted Luer's The Native Orchids of Florida and had read the chapter about this species. Armed with the description of this plant's hibernal leaves, I was determined to try to find it in the woods near my house on the west side of Tallahassee.<br /><br />I frequently visited this one very picturesque steephead stream just a short walk from my house...I had spent many hours exploring it, during all seasons of the year, clambering up and down the banks, swinging from grape vines overhanging the stream, and attempting to catalog the plants and animals found there. <br /><br />This one midwinter day, I was walking along a rather steep embankment overlooking the stream when I lost my footing and slid down about five or six feet on my rump, my arms flailing wildly and hands grasping for any vegetation that I could use to slow my slide, but to no avail--I plashed down in the very cold stream (thankfully on my feet).<br /><br />When I recovered, I was about to toss the handful of leaves that I had collected on my way down when I noticed one shiny green leaf with a distinctively purple underside...I had found a Tipularia! Going back up the bank (more carefully this time), I found a small colony growing near where my slide had started. Further exploration of that stream from end-to-end revealed 100 or more plants. I saw my first flowers the next July-August.<br /><br />BTW, if you want to see the flowers in summertime, it's best to put some sort of relatively inconspicuous flag near patches of their hibernal leaves in fall/winter. Only about ten percent of the plants flower, so locating the rather inconspicuous flowering stems can be a bit daunting, even when a particular area had many dozens of plants the previous winter.Premhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09720547317948102261noreply@blogger.com