Jack-in-the-pulpit

 

Spotted this specimen on a trail near my home. Not too difficult to figure out how it got its name:

"The small, inconspicuous flowers of Jack-in-the-pulpit are borne on a fleshy, spike-like inflorescence called a spadix ('Jack'), which is enclosed (or nearly enclosed) by a large, sometimes colorful bract called a spathe ('pulpit'). The flowers are clustered around the base of the spadix inside the spathe. A sterile spadix appendix protrudes from the mouth of the spathe tube. The appendix is covered by the leafy tip of the spathe, referred to as the spathe hood (or spathe lamina). The lip along the mouth of the spathe tube, used as a landing platform for winged insects, is called the spathe flange." -- Wikipedia

Peaches!

 

 

 

I've been somewhat surprised to see peaches coming into season here lately.  Surprised, because I can remember seeing the trees, but not the fruit. So maybe they've just taken this long to fruit. I've read that it can take from three to four years to do so, and this does look like a very young tree.

 

Southern Magnolia

 

Powell House

 

"Benjamin Powell was a carpenter who became a contractor, built a couple of Williamsburg landmarks, and enjoyed the company and counsel of some of 18th-century Williamsburg's leading gentlemen. He acquired his property at the east end of the city in 1763, and for nearly 20 years pursued from there the career of an 'undertaker' – as contractors were called in those days." -- Colonial Williamsburg

Bottlebrush Buckeye

 

"The naturalist, explorer and plant collector William Bartram first noted this . . . shrub on his travels through Carolina, Georgia and Florida in 1773–78. An old example was still to be found in Bartram's Garden, Philadelphia, in 1930." -- Wikipedia

Diary Keepers

 

"For this book, I intentionally chose not to excerpt the best-known diaries . . . by Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum, Abel J. Herzberg, or other worthy diaries . . . More diaries, more perspectives, help us to get a far better sense . . . . I was seeking a range of perspectives, not many but various. I wanted to juxtapose and balance voices from the occupation period and provide a rounded view of the war." -- Nina Siegal

Log

 

This section of a tree trunk is from the tulip poplar that stood near the west front of Monticello. Centuries old, the tree succumbed to old age and disease and was removed in 2008. Although traditionally regarded as a tree from the era of Thomas Jefferson, the absence of solid wood and growth rings prevented a precise determination of the tree's age.