Ellen and I checked out the trail for tomorrow's wildflower hike. Ha! There will only be a few flowers to see, but it will be a good botany hike with ferns and horsetails. There are thunderstorms here tonight, so I can't be online more than a few seconds to post this. (We blew out two routers in the first 6 months that we had a wireless connection! Now we unplug early.)
So I'll just show you a couple of "old friends" in new clothes. The first picture above is the fiddleheads for the Intermediate Fern- the one we used for a lesson on basic fern talk. How do I know? Because, remember that the old leaves remain through the winter, so I could still see them on the same plant as the new leaves.
Here's another lovely set of fiddleheads, also called croziers. This one I was also able to identify because, again, last years leaves remain green all winter. In fact, this one is so dark green and shiny that it was often used for holiday decor, and is called Christmas Fern. (Polystichum Acrostichoides). Here's a picture of it from another place and year, but you can see how pretty it is.
Do you know what this might be?
After we looked at just about every plant on this trail, we took a fast hike to check on the tulip tree. How do you like this lovely baby leaf? It will be a while before there are blossoms. I hope I can catch them for you!
 | See I Need Green Really Bad for the intermediate fern
See The Tulip Tree See Shapes of Trees for the shape of the tulip tree |
8 comments:
Ferns & Horsetails, they are the wonders of the plant world, good luck with them.
What a great time of year this is when everything comes back to life. Love that first picture.
Fern is my favourite. I can derive many stories as the fern leaves start to unfold.
I bet you are SO anxious for the Spring to really hit!
Pretty soon we will see all the beautiful foliage of your great hikes! Looking forward to it!
I love the first shot of fern you took Sharkie. Very unique :)
Carol- I found a new horsetail (to me) today. I'll be doing a post on Nature Center Magazine about it, I think.
Ann- I'm really enjoying it this year!
rainfield- your thoughts and stories unfurl with the croziers.
Ferd- The trees are really leafing out in town, but not so much in the woods. Last night's rain will make a big difference.
Vanilla- I'm trying to learn which fern those lovely little rolls will turn out to be!
Fern is just so lush and beautiful. I was at the annual plant sale yesterday and surrounded by all species of fern. Love your photos.
I think I recognize the fern as a Christmas fern from your article on Nature Center Magazine, although I could be way off. I'm still not very sure of myself with ferns, but I think I'm beginning to learn.
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