Fall Hike at Garden in the Woods

I took an afternoon walk at Garden in the Woods.  There weren't a lot of wings....more mushrooms and fungi than anything else.

Meadow Bottle Gentian

(How does this flower get pollinated?  The answer is in the following video.)

Common Spreadwing

Elm Sawfly

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

I hadn't been to Garden in the Woods in a long time.  The meadow is being re-done, so there is nothing growing there.  It used to be a great place for finding butterflies.  This visit, another sight shocked me.  The old white pine tree near the meadow was gone!

another Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Aphid-covered milkweed

Beech Drops

Beech Drops is a parasitic plant that grows on the roots of beech trees.  It has no leaves or chlorophyll.  It has small pinkish flowers that don't really show up that well in an otherwise colorless plant.  

I saw my first coral fungi this morning at Beals Preserve.  Imagine my surprise to find lots of it throughout the woods at Garden in the Woods!

A few other pretty fungi: