The Big Seven O!

Well, I turned 70 today and decided to stay home and relax. That decision didn't last long, though. Had a nice lunch on the front porch with my family, got some nice, home-made presents, then sat in my favorite stuffed blue chair. By mid-afternoon, though, the naturalist's itch struck again. I decided to drive out to the Golden King parking lot and see if the Gumplant was attracting any interesting new bugs. The Gumplants were blooming profusely all around the area, but no new bugs. I took a few photos, then decided to head further east on Highway 70. Roadside vegetation looked pretty dry and brown except for the stubborn Chicory and a few others that bloom late. I needed to get near water, so I headed down LaPorte Road toward the point where Big Thompson Creek emerges from Claremont Mountain. That was a good decision. The variety of wildflowers increased rapidly during the last mile as the influence of humidity became obvious. I hiked a hundred yards or so in every direction from my parking spot and found some beautiful photo ops. There was a patch of Bedstraw, Galium sp., that must have been 100 feet long. This square-stemmed, ground-hugging plant is covered with tiny little hooks so it feels sticky to the touch. Then I saw some patches of Yellow Sweetclover, Melilotus sp., and one branch was harboring a white Goldenrod Crab Spider. Several different species of Melilotus are called Yellow Sweetclover and I'm not sure which one this was. Then came the highlights of my wanderings - a great patch of Baneberry, Actaea rubra, and a few sprigs of American Brooklime, Veronica americana. I've only seen Baneberry once before, and I have never noticed it while it was blooming in the spring. The berries are such a bright red that they can't be missed. This is a poisonous plant, so don't be tempted. The berries look a bit like currants. It's a member of that very diverse buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It's interesting to note that Actaea is also a genus of crab. As for the Brooklime, this was the first time I'd ever seen it. At first, I thought it was gentian, but my Audubon guide straightened me out. It's in the family Scrophulariaceae.
Now that I've posted my day's wanderings, my birthday is complete.