Summer Beauties

Despite this being the dog days of summer and that forest trails are devoid of beautiful blossoming flowers,  there is still color to be found in fruiting berries.  This beautiful red berry is on a Hooker's Fairy Bell plant, one that I noticed this morning during a dog/bird walk at Darrow Bar, a Willamette Green Way Access Point, just a couple of miles north of where we live in Salemtowne. Hooker's Fairy Bell has another close look alike called Smith's Fair Lantern.  They are easy to tell apart when the flowers are in bloom, as the flowers on the Smith have long straight pedals, as opposed to the Hooker's have curved "hooker's hips." With the flowers long gone I was stumped as to which plant I had here and had to do more research. As is turns out, Hooker's has small hairs on the top and edges of the leaf and stem, only noticeable if you get an up close look. The berries of this Hooker's Fairy Bell are considered possibly poisonous, so it's best to just enjoy their beauty.