Purple Climbing Nightshade Wildflowers Are Blooming At Fort Hill On Cape Cod

The purple Climbing Nightshade wildflowers are blooming along the trails at Fort Hill. They are such a pretty wildflower with purple shooting star shaped flowers with 5 violet curved petals swept back from a central yellow “beak.” They grow in round clusters at the end of a long stem. The flowers are tiny, only about 1/2” while the vine climbs to 4 feet.

The berries, which you can see in the photograph are egg-shaped, shiny green and ripen to bright red. Beware: the berries are extremely poisonous. “The unripened berries of this plant have a toxin that can cause death when eaten.”

Enjoy these beautiful, delicate wildflowers from a distance!

Nauset Spit Through The trees At Fort Hill On Cape Cod

The views over Nauset Marsh to Nauset Spit, where Nauset Beach is separated from Coast Guard Beach by a breach, is spectacular… any time of the day, any time of the year.

I really liked this photograph looking through the trees out onto Nauset Marsh from the carving stone at Fort Hill. It was evening but there were still plenty of boats out enjoying the gorgeous summer weather.

Pretty photograph, don’t you think?

Common Wood Nymph Butterfly At Fort Hill On Cape Cod

I’ve seen a lot of Common Wood Nymph butterflies while hiking at Fort Hill lately, especially in the evenings as they love the  grassy borders of woodland edges and openings. 

The Common Wood Nymph, mostly tan and brown with two dark eyespots in an orange patch, has a  2″ to 2  7/8″ wingspan. It is very distinguishable.

Have you ever seen a Common Wood Nymph?  

Spotted Wintergreen Wildflowers Blooming On Cape Cod

Spotted Wintergreen is such an interesting wildflower as the waxy white flowers droop down to the earth until they bloom and then they face the sun. The Spotted Wintergreen  is very similar to a wildflower that I used to see in Colorado called Pipsissiwa which has solid green leaves.

Spotted Wintergreen grows from 4-10″ with 1″ flowers. They bloom in July and August in the woods so you still have plenty of time to find them.

Have you ever seen a Spotted Wintergreen wildflower? Pretty cool looking flower, don’t you think?

Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.