Today, I went on a hike around the James River. It was a beautiful day with just enough clouds in the sky to appreciate the sunshine. The water was warm, and wildflowers are starting to carpet the forest floor along the James. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Cut-Leaf Toothwort (Dentaria sp.) ?

Atamasco Lily (Zephyranthes atamasco)

Some flowers from a pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba). The pawpaw is a native tree that produces an edible fruit. Although the pawpaw is a temperate species, the fruit looks and tastes tropical. Pawpaws grow as understory amongst hardwood trees. I noticed that these flowers were being visited by ants, which are probably their pollinators. Pawpaw trees thrive along the James River and Richmond, Virginia.

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Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)