Perspective on Nature: August Beautiful

On August 22, 2015 I walked at Great Meadows and Gowings Swamp in Concord, early in the day. I was hoping a bit of morning sun might peek through the grey cloud cover, but it did not cooperate. Beauty abounds no matter the weather though. Here are some of the photos I took. (Any information about the plants in the photos is thanks to what I have learned from Cherrie Corey, botanist, naturalist who runs environmental education programs and nature walks in the area.)

The bench is overgrown with August's growth, looks like it's being eaten :)
The vine is climbing false buckwheat.


Berries turning from white to green to dark blue against turning leaves.

Bumble bee on evening primrose.

Beautiful lotus with small white flowers.

Lotus and huge lily pads.


Tiny pink flower - maybe showy tick trefoil. This is 1/2 inch across at the most.

Milk parsley.

I have no idea what this tiny flower is.

Some type of buckwheat - Ladies' thumbs maybe?

One of my favorite photos of the day due to the artistry of nature! Buttonbush and bur cucumber. The cucumber grows like an ivy wrapping around growth, and then sprouts spiked "cucumbers" that hold its seeds.

This may not look like much, but it is the start of an oxbow in the Concord River, the river turning left under the fallen tree. Cherrie had mentioned that Thoreau had studied this very place.

A gloomy day, but then you run into cardinal flowers! It grows on one stalk. The ones I saw were from 2 ft to maybe 4 feet tall. They grow in small clumps, mostly along the river. I'm not an expert, but had never seen so many in my years of going there. There are more photos of them below.