At sunrise on this beautiful morning, the very red sunlight playing on a tulip tree (
Liriodendron tulipifera) at Charter Oak Court.
This vine can be found in the fence at the southwestern corner of the intersection of the W&OD bike path with Michael Faraday Drive. I believe this is hedge bindweed (
Calystegia sepium); see
Virginia Tech weed ID sheet and this
Missouri wildflower page. A bit difficult to see, but the big leaf to the left of the flower is in fact triangular with deep notch and "dog ears" at its base.
Another shot of a nearby flower about to open, with a better view of the leaf shape to the lower left. Also clearly visible in this shot is the green cup covering the calyx, at the base of the flower, which gives this plant its generic name. The bindweeds are part of the Morning Glory family; each individual flower only blooms for a day or so.
More red berries! These belong to the very thorny/prickly vine stems that run vertically in the left portion of the image. I believe these are the fruit of the multiflora rose (
Rosa multiflora). See this
Virginia Tech fact sheet, and this
indictment from the National Park Service. I have found them most noticeable along the W&OD gravel path near the top of the rocky slope east of Michael Faraday Drive, interspersed with autumn olives and honeysuckles.
This image shows some of the small, pinnately compound leaves with small, toothed leaflets. Somewhat out of focus but still visible near the bottom right is the characteristic fringed stipule of a leaf.
