If you’re hiking in the woods, look for the waxy white Indian Pipe wildflowers that are blooming in clusters. They have a whitish, waxy, scaly stalk with nodding waxy bell-shaped flowers. Indian Pipe does not have any chlorophyll so its nutrients come from decaying matter, thus they thrive on the forest floor.
Indian Pipe grows to 4-10″ with 1” flowers from July to September. I have been looking for them for a while and only have seen them the past week.
Have you ever seen Indian Pipe wildflowers? So unique, don’t you think?
This is the time of year when the Japanese Knotweed is growing all over Cape Cod, and elsewhere. It grows densely to 6 feet tall with tiny, white flowers in 3″ spreading clusters. The leaves are heart-shaped.
Japanese Knotweed grows from August through September in open areas. Although it looks pretty, it is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world’s worst invasive plants.
I have seen a lot of Smooth Sumac growing along the sides of the trails by the National Seashore. I wasn’t sure what it was until I did a little research.
Smooth Sumac is a large shrub which grows to about 10 feet with large, 12″ leaves. The bark is smooth and brown; the twigs are grey or red. The flowers are yellowish and bloom in June and July. The berries, which you can see in the photographs, are tiny, red, hairy, sticky and about 8″ upright. They grow in dense, conical clusters.
I also learned that it is not poisonous, like Poison Sumac.
The gardens at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary have been totally done over this summer and they are gorgeous! There are little paths that you can walk along to see the wildflowers and butterflies close-up and get those treasured macros.
The yellow Coneflowers were blooming and were gorgeous as they stood over 6 feet tall. They remind me of Colorado as there were many growing along the trails in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Beautiful, 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.
