Okay, I had intended to go out on a hike today, but there was a storm in the forecast, which ended up arriving earlier than predicted. It dropped over 4″ of rain within a couple of hours. A couple of short-lived tornadoes also dropped, one to the SW near Bunnell and the other one to the west of St. Augustine.

As I was intending to go for a walk today, I was going to include any photos taken today in my weekly photo journal. Since that plan didn’t work out, I’m posting them now.

I wandered up a portion of the equestrian trail that follows the boundary of Princess Place on the west side, traveling nearly due north towards Pellicer Creek. As I was wandering along carefully stepping on the loose sandy trail, I noticed a flowering shrub. A new plant! I had no idea what it was, so looked it up when I got home and discovered it was a species of native Pawpaw, the Wooly Pawpaw. Sure enough, when I tested some of the gray-green leaves they were soft and fuzzy. The blooms were huge and a pale creamy white. The shrub itself was short and very open in its growing habit. The shrubs (I saw several) were situated in an sandy open pine plantation under Long Leaf pines.

I had never seen these plants in bloom before as I had not specifically visited Princess Place in April before.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_laevis

The Turkey oak is a handsome small caliper red oak that grows in open woods. There are several specimens along this particular trail, with fresh shiny green leaves. The turkey oak is deciduous and has beautiful autumnal color, bright orange, yellow and reds. They are a stand-out against the dark foliage of the Southern Live Oaks and sand oaks.

Although I was pretty sure of my location, it was a relief to spot one of the park’s trail markers. I had reached the outer loop of this particular trail.

This next Pawpaw might be an entirely different species. It had wider, shiny smooth leaves although the flowers are similar in structure, loose and dangling. Pawpaw can be hard to find in the woods. Some are edible. It would be interesting to observe if any fruit grows on the shrubs, although the local deer might get to them first.

Here is the observation deck which looks out over the Pellicer Creek salt marsh. From the deck you can see the dock at Faver Dyke State Park on the northern shore of Pellicer Creek. It’s hard to see much but occasionally there is a flash of reflection off a vehicle as it passes through the trees. Infrequent boat travel passes the deck. Pellicer Creek is a favorite for fishermen, canoeists, kayaks, and occasional smaller fishing boats. I’ve seen pelicans, otters, and dolphins on or from the shore on the creek. Nothing quite so exciting happened that day…

This was a particularly nice specimen of the Pawpaw, open, vase-like, with the large attractive flowers.

Here’s another specimen of the Chapman Oak, a native species of oak in Florida. It was growing beneath some taller live oaks and Long Leaf pines as a large shrub. As a tree they can reach up to 12 to 20 feet, but are often seen as large closely knit shrubs.

Here’s part of the trail I was following, wide, strewn with crunchy oak leaves, pine needles and grass. You can’t see it but occasionally there are damp spots. I’ve learned to observe the grass; it’s different in the damp spots. I was intending to walk towards Stiles Creek, but got stopped by a huge puddle straddling the path, so I just turned back. I had no desire to get my boots wet.

From the map above, you wouldn’t know that the bold red line on the western edge of the map actually is connected to the yellow trail; it’s just a little sketchy at first. I followed it anyway having seen the boundary trail numerous times on the map. I ended up doing perhaps a two-mile loop. I was still recovering from some tummy upset over Sat/Sun night.

So, this is how I spent a little of the solar eclipse day, enjoying the outdoors in one of my favorite local parks. A day well-spent.

I thought I took more photos, but that’s what uploaded to my computer. I may have to empty my memory card…

Ah, Florida… the sun is shining, the sky is blue. The storm has passed.

Enjoy your upcoming weekend, everyone.

Eliza

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