Allegheny Vine (Adlumia fungosa), Tritown

When I got a note from my TriTown Forest Preserve friends about trying to locate a mystery fern that might, according to experts, be downright rare, I decided to drop what I was doing and join an expedition, led by the remarkable botanist Doug McGrady, to study the plant and figure out its identity. Well, the fern remains uncertain, but as long as we were in the preserve, Doug had another item on his agenda, which was re-finding and documenting a patch of a definitely uncommon wildflower with the tongue-twisting name of Adlumia fungosa. When one of my younger brothers first encountered the Latin name of a very pretty plant commonly called Allegheny Vine, Climbing Fumitory, or Mountain Fringe, said bro thought the scientific moniker was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. But I rather liked the name and vowed, sooner or later, that I'd actually find and photograph it. Today was my chance, and the plant proved worth what has become a several decades  long wait. Wish my brother could have been with me to see it.