Belated Post About a Past Walk

Before my ankle injury distracted me from the project, I had snapped some photos for a Wednesday Walk post while strolling in the woods. Better late than never, right?

The forest floor is always littered with twigs, pine needles, pine cones, and other detritus falling from above, but this thin bit of wasp nest was an unusual find. Not an entire nest, just this one thin sheet of gray papery stuff. The hole was once the entrance and exit to the nest of bad-tempered insects.

I probably would not have noticed this spider web had it not been coated in dust kicked up by people driving on a nearby dirt road. It didn't look like anybody was home, but I didn't poke around much. The builder was probably Agelenopsis, the American grass spider or another of the related funnel weavers.

I think this is Calochortus apiculatus, and if not, it is still definitely some kind of mariposa lily. The petals are fuzzy, and unfortunately, so is this picture thanks to a breeze making the flower dance.

One of the reasons this post was not published sooner, aside from the injury taking my mind away from such matters: this plant. I think it may be Maianthemum stellatum, or little false Solomon's seal, but since I didn't see it when it was flowering, I remain uncertain.

Happy Wednesday Walk, everyone! Just watch your step out there!