Wildflowers Flourishing Along A Tranquil Ozarkian Trail. It Was A Blessing To Enjoy This Beautiful Place

Wildflowers flourishing along a tranquil Ozarkian trail. It was a blessing to enjoy this beautiful place where the sun kissed spots of the blue forest floor and only the sound of bird songs and soft wind whispered through the trees. The blue-eyed mary (Collinsia verna) and virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) thriving on the forest floor are both native spring ephemerals found throughout the central and eastern parts of North America.

April 17th, 2023

Washington County, Missouri, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline

Mica Cap Mushrooms

Coprinellus sect. Micacei

Growing at the base of an old cottonwood tree in the woods.

April 3rd, 2024

St. Louis County, Missouri, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline

Amanita sect. Vaginatae

Aug. 15th, 2023

St. Louis County, Missouri, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline

Purple Cress

Cardamine douglassii

Also known as Limestone Cress, this species in the mustard family features clusters of light purple flowers in early spring and can be found in wet and swampy forests with calcium carbonate rich soils. It's native to parts of the eastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada.

The plants I photographed are part of an isolated population remaining in a tiny bottomland forest remnant in St. Charles County, Missouri. Unfortunately, the rest of the forest has been lost due to suburban sprawl and what little of it remains has many invasive species, including winter creeper, callery pear, and japanese honeysuckle trying to encroach from surrounding developments and outcompete native plants like this one.

March 12th & 13th, 2024

St. Charles County, Missouri, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline

Prairie Trillium

Trillium recurvatum

These unique, dark trillium plants caught our eye while we were exploring woods in Jersey County, Illinois. This species usually has splotchy green leaves. dailybotany suggested these trillium plants may have upped their anthocyanin production in response to exposure to higher levels of solar radiation. There were a few of these trilliums with dark leaves in the general area, and it may have been a sunnier than usual spot in the understory of the forest there, so this theory makes sense. I still wonder if it's possible this small population carries a genetic mutation... I have explored many woods and never seen trilliums this dark. I love listening to different theories and learning new info.

Trillium recurvatum is native to much of the Mississippi River basin in the central / eastern United States. Eastern Ohio has a few populations, which are listed as potentially threatened by their DNR. There are also a couple isolated populations in North Carolina, but it's debated whether or not they were actually planted long ago. Its closest lookalike with overlapping range is trillium sessile; however, the sepals on s. recurvatum plants curve downward as the flower opens, and the stem is usually much shorter than on t. sessile. This species can grow in habitats ranging from floodplains, to mesic forests and mesic savannas. Often, they're found growing in calcareous soils or over calcium-rich rocks such as limestone.

March 20th, 2024

Jersey County, Illinois, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline

Pale Jewelweed

Impatiens pallida

Native to much of eastern North America, pale jewelweed prefers wet soils in bottomland forests, along streams, etc... Jewelweed is also an old remedy for poison ivy rashes. Hummingbirds love the flowers as well. The pictured plants were growing en masse in a bottomland forest next to the Big River.

Sept. 1st, 2021

Washington County, Missouri, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline