Jim Fowler's photos with the keyword: Crab spider

Part 1 of a full day trip to the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina and to the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway in Transylvania County, North Carolina. For the trip report, please go to Jim's Blog .

Part 1 of a full day trip to the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina and to the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway in Transylvania County, North Carolina. For the trip report, please go to Jim's Blog .

Part 1 of a full day trip to the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina and to the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway in Transylvania County, North Carolina. For the trip report, please go to Jim's Blog .

These 57!!! images represent a day's photography work on Day 3 of a 3-day field trip to the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. This day was spent entirely in Brunswick County, North Carolina -- home of the Green Swamp as well as the town of Boiling Spring Lakes. Both of these locations are great botanizing areas, especially this time of year. For the trip report, please go to Jim's Blog .

These 57!!! images represent a day's photography work on Day 3 of a 3-day field trip to the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. This day was spent entirely in Brunswick County, North Carolina -- home of the Green Swamp as well as the town of Boiling Spring Lakes. Both of these locations are great botanizing areas, especially this time of year. For the trip report, please go to Jim's Blog .

This orchid species has the smallest flowers of any of our native orchids, measuring about 2mm wide. My flickr friend Keith Bradley told me that he had a lead on a site for Malaxis unifolia in the Congaree National Park and wondered if I'd be interested in seeing it. What!?! You have to ask? ;-) Anyway, I met him down there (near Hopkins, SC) about 10:00 am, dodging rain showers all the way down. Fortunately, it didn't even sprinkle on us for the two hours we were there. What a great time and place to photograph this seldom seen orchid...

This orchid species has the smallest flowers of any of our native orchids, measuring about 2mm wide. My flickr friend Keith Bradley told me that he had a lead on a site for Malaxis unifolia in the Congaree National Park and wondered if I'd be interested in seeing it. What!?! You have to ask? ;-) Anyway, I met him down there (near Hopkins, SC) about 10:00 am, dodging rain showers all the way down. Fortunately, it didn't even sprinkle on us for the two hours we were there. What a great time and place to photograph this seldom seen orchid...

This crab spider is very small. The nectary opening that it is "guarding" is about 1.5mm. I apologize for the lack of clarity, but this image was very closely cropped to enlarge the tiny spider. When Jim Petranka told me he had photographed Platanthera grandifolora last week up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I said, "WHAT!?!". Platanthera grandiflora in that area of North Carolina was at peak bloom the second and third week of JUNE. I know that, because I photographed them the last week of June, myself. And he photographed these plants -- at peak bloom -- the last week of JULY. He told me that he had some of the images on his laptop, and I asked him to show them to me. When I saw his images, I decided that what he had photographed was probably the most rare Platanthera orchid in North Carolina -- Platanthera shriveri. Of course, I had to see them myself, so I followed him to the location which was a couple of hours away. Most of the flowers were spent, but there were a few plants with presentable flowers toward the top of the bloom stalk. I'm fairly certain that these are Platanthera shriveri, but I'm open to any convincing that they are Platanthera grandiflora. Considering the bloom time, when P. grandiflora, P. psycodes, and P. lacera have been out of bloom for more than 4 weeks, what else could these be?

When Jim Petranka told me he had photographed Platanthera grandifolora last week up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I said, "WHAT!?!". Platanthera grandiflora in that area of North Carolina was at peak bloom the second and third week of JUNE. I know that, because I photographed them the last week of June, myself. And he photographed these plants -- at peak bloom -- the last week of JULY. He told me that he had some of the images on his laptop, and I asked him to show them to me. When I saw his images, I decided that what he had photographed was probably the most rare Platanthera orchid in North Carolina -- Platanthera shriveri. Of course, I had to see them myself, so I followed him to the location which was a couple of hours away. Most of the flowers were spent, but there were a few plants with presentable flowers toward the top of the bloom stalk. I'm fairly certain that these are Platanthera shriveri, but I'm open to any convincing that they are Platanthera grandiflora. Considering the bloom time, when P. grandiflora, P. psycodes, and P. lacera have been out of bloom for more than 4 weeks, what else could these be?