Thursday, August 21, 2014

Lost and Found, Addenda

Check my previous post for an explanation of the "Lost and Found" reference.  The above photo is a view of Lost Lake from the ridge where we stopped to rest on last Saturday's excursion.  The additional images below are some of my favorites from the hike along the ridge toward the Lost Lake overlook.  Some nice shady forest at 6,000-plus elevation was a great habitat for fungi and some late season blooming.  The golden or sulfurous fungus below was an outstanding sight.  It seemed to glow compared to the dark shadows around it.
This puffball fungus was around 3" in diameter and looked really fresh.
The plant below was a new one to me.  It vaguely resembled Indian Rhubarb (or Umbrella Plant) both in overall size and structure and choice of habitat.  Sure enough, it turned out to be a Saxifrage and is called Great or Large Boykinsia, Boykinsia montana.  It's one of many wild plants whose common or popular name is the same as the scientific name - such as Iris, Magnolia, Rhododendron, Aster, and Gilia.
A closer view of the flowers shows the great resemblance to the flowers of Umbrella Plant.
It was growing in a nice little stream.  It was good to see some flowing water after hiking for hours through very dry forest.

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