Littlest Trillium

The photos above are from a trek to the summit of Bald Knob in Tucker County, West Virginia earlier today. Bald Knob Trail starts in Canaan Valley State Park and crosses into the Monongahela National Forest before returning to the state park. Many people avoid the steep ascent on foot and take a chair lift from the adjacent ski area instead. I manned up today and made the ascent by foot so I could beat the lazy tourists to the overlook. 

From top: the view from Bald Knob toward Weiss Knob and the Canaan Valley State Park ski area; wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), a clumping woodland perennial with gorgeous violet-purple foliage and elegant, sharply-lobed foliage; minniebush (Menziesia pilosa), an Appalachian endemic with distinctive, white-tipped leaves; painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), which has a fondness for shady spots in the strongly-acidic soils of old forests; pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), another lover of shady nooks and strongly-acidic soils; and the mysterious depths of the boreal forest at the summit, where Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) and yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis), also known as bluebead lily, form dense colonies in the rich humus.

Painted Trillium by vulture on iNaturalist.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

🌱 🐜 🪽🌿✨// white trillium & ants // gouache on hot press paper

part of my natives + pollinators series. white trillium are a delicate spring ephemeral native to the eastern US. they bloom in the early spring in woodlands, soaking up the sunlight on the forest floor for a few weeks before the canopy grows in. tiny ants help pollinate them for the 4-ish weeks they're in bloom, and spread their seeds on the forest floor.

Yellow Trout-Lily

Testing these really cool brushes

The darkness encroaches you.

I don't even want to think about how long ago I started this, cuz it will beat me over the head with a baseball bat.

May flowers, Sauble Beach 2022

Warden | 24” x 18” | acrylic on panel

Cute little mouse girl in her brand new Corvette (new to her - it’s used!) Stuart Little is SHAKING!

Some rocks I painted for my grandpa's memorial. Acrylic paint pen, 2021 . . . . . . . #paintedrocks#paintedstone#forgetmenots#trillium#amanitamuscaria#flyagaric#toadstool#mushroom#mushroomart#botanicalart#painting#drawing#paintedrocksrock#paintingrocks#rockart#stoneart#memorialart#pdxart#pdxartists#buartwork (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpbAKOWS0DL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I celebrate each time I find a Trillium seed pod. So... Party time I guess.

I took a short hike on Scott Run Trail in Coopers Rock State Forest to decompress from work and was treated to four of the most delicate and enchanting wildflowers of Appalachia’s May woods.  From top: yellow mandarin (Prosartes lanuginosa), also known as yellow fairybells; mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) blossom; painted trillium (Trillium undulatum); and perfoliate bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata).

Painted Trillium by vulture on iNaturalist.

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Trillium Lake, Oregon. This is a digital painting I did using a picture I took years ago as reference. I don’t usually dabble in realism but this was really fun!

White Trillium

ENDANGERED IN MICHIGAN [redraw]

1. karner blue 2. marbled salamander 3. indiana bat 4. american chestnut 5. canada lynx 6. mitchell's satyr 7. redside dace 8. copperbelly water snake 9. spotted turtle 10. lake sturgeon 11. peregrine falcon 12*. grey wolf 13. northern riffleshell 14. michigan monkey-flower 15. painted trillium 16. hine's emerald dragonfly 17. piping plover 18. clubshell

*listed as endangered in the USA, special concern in MI