Saturday, April 20, 2024

You should see the calico bushes

 Mountain laurels are blooming in the woods south of Stone Mountain. Kalmia latifolia is a wonder to me, partly because it’s different from the mountain laurel I knew in Texas, Sophora secundiflora.

The blooms weigh down the bushes and small trees. The blossoms are white, flecked with red. I like one of the common names: calico bush.

It’s a wonderful time to be in the woods. The wild azaleas in genus Rhododendron are blooming. I’ve also seen wood sorrel, genus Oxalis, with large magenta flowers. I love the lavender blooms of lyreleaf sage, Salvia lyrata. 

The enormous dog and I disturbed a red-bellied snake, Storeria occipitomaculata.  Red-bellied snakes have been known to play possum, but this one was trying hard to get out of our way. This little fellow, about 5 inches long, was gray with a brown spot at the base of its skull. Red-bellied snakes eat slugs.

• Note: For those interested in the other mountain laurel, Sophora secundiflora, see “Mountain laurels here and there,” April 14, 2023.

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