Day 198: What began as two friends planning an outing to witness Corallorhiza trifida at a single location developed into a field trip for four and some serious botanizing. Maggie Webster and I had scheduled a short excursion for the morning, but when Yonit and Leon Yogev called to say they were in the area, I suggested that they might like to join us for what could well be a once-in-a-decade observation of the rare Corallorhiza. The trip was rather loosely organized, and Yonit and Leon eventually tracked Maggie and me down at a secondary spot, one at which I had found the species last year but not yet in 2016. By the time they arrived, Maggie and I had located five more specimens. To her delight, Yonit found a sixth we had overlooked. Meanwhile, Leon was engaged in learning about lower-forest trees and how to differentiate spruce from fir by examining the shape and texture of the needles.
The Yogevs left us at that point, and Maggie and I continued up the road (partly on foot) to investigate a report of a washout, clambering through the section of collapsed roadbed and going a little further on. At our turnaround point, we discovered Wild Ginger in bloom. It is one of my favourite wildflowers. The unusual flowers of this low-growing plant are concealed beneath its heart-shaped leaves. Each blossom bears three long "tails," as described in its scientific name, Asarum caudatum.
On the return hike, I was pleased to discover several nice colonies of Pilophorus acicularis (Devil's Matchstick Lichen) near the washout. This find was perhaps the "youngest" incidence of P. acicularis I have spotted to date, colonization having occurred less than 20 years from the time the rock was exposed.
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