My tenth in the series on wildflowers in the Berkshire woods, located in New York, on the borders of Vermont and Massachusetts. Enjoy!

 

Amphicarpaea bracteata or Hog Peanut. This is the upper flower on a vine. Here it is wrapped around a fern. The lower flower, which I didn't see, lacks petals. According to my guide, hogs eat the seeds of the fruit below ground, thus the plant's common name.

Aster divaricatus or White Wood Aster. The flower is plentiful currently. This specimen is near perfect. Most I've seen are somewhat scraggly. 

New York's only non-native orchid, Epipactis helleborine, according to our State botanist. It's European in origin and was first found in North America near Syracuse in the 1870's.

 

Another version of Epipactis helleborine before it blooms. It comes up in May and just finished blooming. 

Geum canadense or White Avens. This flower was not in my Audubon guide and I had a heck of time trying to identify it, although it is quite common.

Another version of the Geum canadense or White Avens.

Surprise, a mushroom, which are more common now than wildflowers. I think this is a Chicken Mushroom, but I am not sure. Chicken mushrooms are called that because they are supposed to taste like chicken. I was too chicken to try it. It is definitely a Polypore, which means it is a shelf mushroom growing on wood without a stem. Whatever it is, it is gorgeous.