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Dozens of fairly young or at least not large trees to 40ft tall, growing in a frequently inundated area with water sometimes 1--2ft deep for long periods. Bark somewhat corky, leaves leathery and turning purplish with autumn weather, and fruit large for the genus, at least for species found in North America. Thousands of seedlings present (one shown in the 3rd-to-last photo). I have suspicions what species this may be, but I need help with the identification.

This was the fault of my friend @stevendaniel who said as soon as we got out of the vehicle "We don't have to worry about ticks here
right ?". He got three. Three of my other ones went out the window on the drive back and didn't make the photo op.
Boys on L girls on R.

Paddling up the Middle Fork Suwannee River (red trail); Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia.
• Sunrise 7:04 AM, sunset 5:27 PM
• Day length: 10 hours 20 minutes (-1 hr 8 min)
• Temperature - high 84; low 65
• Journal entry: http://williamwisephoto.com/photographyblog/paddling-the-okefenokee-red-trail

~ Want to make a virtual exploration of the Okefenokee Swamp? Every few days receive a blog featuring nature journals, articles, book excerpts and natural history of the alligators, reptiles, birds, insects, flora and other fauna of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Subscribe at https://okefenokee.photography/. You can also join the Okefenokee Photography Project here on iNaturalist to add your own Okefenokee observations. Thanks! William

Stunned to see this tiny marvel in my favorite local dogbane patch around noon today. I saw a small blue fluttering over the flowers and assumed it was Cupido or Celastrina, but when it landed, I could see the bold ventral pattern and smaller size. The creature was very jittery, startled into the air frequently by the many wasps and bees and by my own movements. On the wing, it flashed clear, pale blue. I managed a couple of poor photos with my phone before it disappeared. I pulled out my DSLR and hunted the area for an hour or so but couldn’t find it again.

The ventral forewing pattern seems to match L. cassius, but apparently there is a “light” form of L. marina, which is a species believed to be a more frequent vagrant?

@hpavulaan @nlblock @spritelink @susanhewitt @nycbirder @maractwin @wayne_fidler @d2b @kennkaufman

Mating pair!!

I was looking at the fruits of this Sanicula odorata and noted the questing tick - I believe adult tick, that I had not seen earlier! Then only later noticed a smaller tick on its back (is that a nymphal tick feeding on the adult?? is it a smaller male having a meal?

Any tick people want to weigh in?

Note: a perfect place for a tick to be - on a mammal-adapted hitchhiking fruit!

Both subsp. americanus (native to North America) and subsp. australis (introduced to North America) are found at this site, sometimes growing intermixed. In the photos the former is indicated with an “N” and the latter with an “I”. On the date I visited this site, 16 September 2019, these are the differences I observed with living stems between the two subspecies:

•Relative stem height: subsp. americanus usually shorter, subsp. australis usually taller.
•Relative stem spacing: subsp. americanus usually more dispersed, subsp. australis usually denser (rarely solitary).
•Stem breaking: subsp. americanus fibrous and hard to break off, subsp. australis often breaks off easily.
•Stem color (lower/older internodes): subsp. americanus red and often shiny, subsp. australis yellow-green and not shiny.
•Stem texture (lower/older internodes): subsp. americanus smooth, subsp. australis minutely ridged.
•Stem & leaf sheath dots: subsp. americanus often present, subsp. australis absent.
•Leaf condition: subsp. americanus has lots of senescence, subsp. australis generally are healthy.
•Margins of upper leaves near panicle: subsp. americanus finely serrated, subsp. australis coarsely serrated.
•Sterile stems more abundant than fertile: subsp. americanus yes, subsp. australis no.
•Panicle branches for panicles of similar length: subsp. americanus fewer, subsp. australis more.
•Panicle branch spacing: subsp. americanus farther, subsp. australis closer.
•Flowering status: subsp. americanus finished flowering, subsp. australis flowering.

There probably are other characteristics I overlooked that distinguish these two subspecies from each other. Perhaps these characteristics listed above hold up at other sites in North America. I don’t use leaf color to tell them apart because although some clones of subsp. australis are strongly blue-green, some clones of that subspecies are more green or yellow-green. See this observation for an illustration: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30610594

Observation of P. australis subsp. americanus from this location: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32878566

Observation of P. australis subsp. australis from this location: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/32888630

Edited: McConnell's Poppy (Papaver mcconnellii). I continue to struggle with these Papavers. I initially suggested possible Arctic poppy (Papaver radicatum). See ID criteria in thread. Yellow, Dempster Highway, east of Wright Pass, tundra, east of Wright Pass, NWT, June 26/07