Carol and I were on a vacation in southeastern Virginia during the first week of October 2024.
On the second day we were sightseeing along the National Colonial Historic Parkway near Jamestown.
I could not resist this pullout that typified the Eastern Deciduous Forest, the ecosystem that covers the eastern third of the continental US.
Here are four photographs from that afternoon:
A Stand of Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
The James River in the background.
Forest Floor under the Yellow Buckeyes (A. flava)
Again, the James River in the background.
Common Hoptree (Ptelia trifoliata)
The hoptree, a shrubby tree, grows in the understory of the yellow buckeyes.
The light shimmering off the hoptree leaves contrasted with the overcast day and dark forest.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
The robin was curious about Carol and me because no one else was on the Parkway.
Endnote
I have lived in wildland urban interfaces (WUIs) of the Eastern Deciduous Forest in Maryland, New Jersey, and Mississippi.
And I have visited, often by hiking, the forest in the other 20 states it covers.
It is always the same, it is always different.
Thank you very much for visiting Thecosmos.blog.
Your host,
Michael DeCaria
“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” -Robert Bresson