Friday, April 8, 2011

Spring Beauty and Toothwort getting ready to flower


In the Scifres-Maier Woods in Celery Bog Park, a toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) and a Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) are just about ready to flower. These are two of our commonest spring wildflowers. Rust fungus is growing on the Spring Beauty, adding some color to the natural world close to the ground. The rust that lives on Spring Beauty is called Puccinia mariae-wilsoniae. Picture taken April 5, 2011.

Link to previous post on toothwort:

Link to previous post on spring beauty rust:


Link to spring beauty:

Another post on toothwort:

Puccinia mariae-wilsoniae is Latin for "Mary Wilson's rust". G.W. Clinton gave this fungus its scientific name. Here is a link to the story of Mary Wilson:

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