Thursday Thirteen 426: Research Park Recreation Trails

Saturday morning before work, I walked a sort of new-to-me path. For weeks, I had noted that the bit of restored prairie by the West Transfer Point, which I travel through a few times a week, was filled with Queen Anne's Lace and something purple. From that vantage point though, one cannot tell what all that purple is. So, Saturday morning I left for work early, as I wanted to stop by the Sequoya Library used book sale first (first Saturday of every month at West Gate Mall). Because of how messed up some of the routes are, that meant I also had a half hour to kill before the book sale. So, I figured it was an opportune time to walk through that bit of prairie.

The Research Park Recreational Trails are comprised of one and a half acres, much greater than the small area I wandered through, extending all the way north to Mineral Point Rd and linking several different facilities. There are access points both east and west of the WTP on Tokay Blvd. I entered via the one just east of the Transfer Point, near the corner of Whitney Way (across from Walgreen's), and took the right fork. This meandered more or less east/northeast, eventually ending at the sidewalk on Whitney Way near Research Park Blvd. I turned left at that corner and walked west until I came to another entry point that led south back to the WTP. (Satellite map here -- you can see the bus depot at bottom, on Tokay Blvd, and section I am talking about bordered by Whitney and Research Park Blvds.)

It shouldn't surprise anyone that there was so much more to see than the naked eye could discern from any of the bordering streets. I was pleased to discover that the majority of the purple was wild bergomot, but there was also purple coneflowers, wild chicory, and thistle. There were also black-eyes susans, yellow coneflowers, compass plant, rattlesnake master, Canadian tick-trefoil, curly dock, spiderwort and so much more. I easily identified at least twenty different plants. The one thing I was surprised not to see was goldenrod, which has started to bloom. I will have to make a note to check out this area again later this month or sometime in September for asters or gentians.

Here are a few photos from my half hour walk.

Wild Bergamot and Yellow Coneflowers

Yellow Coneflowers

Spiderwort

Wild Quinine

Black-Eyed Susans 

Compass Plant

Purple Coneflowers

Rattlesnake Master

Primrose

Canadian Tick Trefoil

Milkweed Pods

St John's Wort

A broad view of Research Park Trails -- Whitney Way is to 
right of photo, Tokay Blvd behind me, Transfer Point to my left.

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