Canadian smoke and other wonders

 Smoke from the Canadian fires again reached the Georgia Piedmont. It lasted just a day.

From the east, you can usually see Stone Mountain from miles away. But the sky was gray Tuesday. You couldn’t see the mountain for the haze until you were almost on it. It was eerie, knowing something so large was there, yet not visible.

July is warm in Georgia, but nothing like South Texas. It’s possible, with enough cloud cover, to have highs in the 70s. Among the wonders of the month:

• Bear’s foot, Smallanthus uvedalia, is putting out lovely yellow flowers. (More on that tomorrow.)

• Maryland meadowbeauty, Rhexia mariana, is blooming at Arabia Mountain. The flowers were white with just a hint of purple. The anthers are large — they seem almost too big for the flower. The stem is hairy and square.

• Golden ragwort or Appalachian ragwort, Packera anonyma, started blooming in April but is still going. It’s in the aster family with disk and ray flowers. If you see the yellow blooms, you’re likely to see a butterfly. 

If you’re a regular reader and are not interested in natural history, you might want to take a break. This journal needs to catch up on what’s going on in the woods.