Since New Hampshire is the second most forested state in the country after Maine, with 84% of the land forested, forests are easy places to explore. More difficult is finding untouched places that are as close to true wilderness as you can get, but it can be done. I visited one such place last weekend.
In these pockets of older, sometimes protected forest there are often no marked trails or other signs of civilization, so it is wise to be well prepared if you decide to penetrate them very deeply. People get lost in these forests year round-even experienced hikers and hunters.
Violets always make a hike more pleasant. This one had very downy stems, and that makes me think that it was an ovate leaved violet (Viola fimbriatula.) The only trouble with that line of thought is, ovate leaved violets are supposed to be purple and my color finding software tells me that these are very blue.
In places hundreds of anemones carpeted the forest floor. As I moved on I realized that, instead of feeling thankful for the beautiful scene before me, I was wishing that the anemones were white trilliums like the amazing displays I’ve seen on Michigan and Ohio blogs. I need to work on gratitude.
Low bush blueberry bushes (Vaccinium angustifolium) grow in great profusion in any spot that gets enough of sunlight. The berries are an important food source for bear, deer, and many other animals and birds.
This forest has low, wet places made even wetter by beavers. Beaver ponds are active for an average of 30 years and the first stage in creating one is damming a stream to form a pond. Our native trees aren’t meant to live with their roots under water because they take in a lot of oxygen through them, so living trees in an area like this means it was flooded recently.
This was another wet area that looked to be in the process of becoming a sunny clearing with a stream running through it. The dead trees show that this was once a forest that became a pond. Older beaver ponds fill with silt or the beavers move away and their dams erode enough to drain the land. In either case the beaver pond of today will eventually revert back to forest. When the forest has re-established itself and there are enough trees for beavers to eat they will come back and again flood the land in a slow but ever repeating cycle. I feel lucky that I was able to see both the birth and death of beaver ponds without having to travel very far.
Three leaf goldthread (Coptis trifolia) is very happy in moist places. This plant gets its common name from its bright, golden yellow roots. Both Native Americans and colonials used goldthread to treat soreness in the mouth, hence the common name “canker root.” It is said to be very bitter.
Starflowers (Trientalis borealis) grow all through the forest and make use of any place that might get an hour or two of sunlight. The Trientalis part of the scientific name means “one third of a foot” and relates to the plant’s 4 inch height. Two or three flowers are the usual number for this plant but each year I like to try to find the plants with the most flowers. I think my record is four.
Heartleaf foamflowers (Tiarella cordifolia) like to grow in moist, shady places. This plant is a good example of how wildflowers becoming garden flowers. People liked this plant enough to create a demand for it and nurserymen obliged by collecting its seed and growing it for sale. Of course, plant breeders also got ahold of it and have bred many new and unusual varieties.
Wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana) like sunny spots and help keep the forest inhabitants well fed.
All kinds of lichens fall from the tree tops and litter the forest floor. I think this one is a fringed wrinkle lichen (Tuckermenopsis americana) but there are many that look very similar so I’m not 100% certain. Lichens can be very hard to identify because they change color as they dry out, and then when it rains change back to their “normal” color again. That’s why serious lichen hunters only hunt for them after it rains.
The fungus growing from under the bark of this tree reminded me of those dinner rolls that come in a tube and pop out if you smack them hard enough. I’ve looked through three mushroom identification books and haven’t found anything that resembles it.
Hobblebushes (Viburnum alnifolium) grow in the clearings and along the edges of the forest. Hobblebush grows very low to the ground and is known for tripping up, or “hobbling” both men and horses.
The flowers are beautiful but deceiving. The fertile flowers are small and form in the center of the flat topped flower cluster (corymb). Larger and showier infertile flowers ring the outer edge of the cluster. This shrub is a favorite of mine and has been very popular for a long time. Even Gorge Washington grew them in his garden.
There is a love of wild nature in everybody, an ancient mother-love showing itself whether recognized or no, and however covered by cares and duties. ~ John Muir
Thanks for stopping in.
I certainly enjoyed following along on your walk through the woods. I have stopped walking through ours now as poison ivy is spreading so thick in the last few weeks.
Yes, it’s doing the same here. You really have to dress for it and watch where you kneel.
I love to solitude of deep woods. It always amazes me what you can see if you take the time! I’m headed up to the Errol on Saturday to start touring the North Country. Plenty of woods to “lose myself” in!
Yes, you’ll find plenty of solitude there, for sure. Can’t wait to see the blog post!
Enjoyed my visit as always lots to see and great info. Thank You
You’re welcome, Grampy.
Enjoyed the blog – beautiful pics!
BTW, the fungus is a shelf fungi, my guess is Ganoderma tsugae. It’s immature and just starting to build the shelf so it’ll be hard to ID. Give it a few weeks and the top will start to harden and color up. That, tree species, and $4.95 will get you a nice latte. 😉
Thanks for the fungus ID Tim! I’d like to go back and see it when it’s fully formed.
this was such a treat for a girl living in the Texas Hill Country. I long for walks in the forest like when I was a child when we lived in places that had forests! Your post has provided me a long needed walk. thank you.
You’re welcome Martha. I’m glad you enjoyed it-there will be more like it, I’m sure.
I have never walked in such a wild place but you were able to give me a feel of the place. The badgers destroy but the cycle is not broken, I suppose after the ground dries out again there is a new area for young, fresh trees and plants to grow on. It is probably beneficial to the forest as a whole to have clearings made to encourage new growth. Wonderful to see these cycles for yourself. I love the flowers. The star flowers are fascinating, needing just a little light.
Beavers actually do the forest a lot of good and create habitats for waterfowl and hunting grounds for great blue heron, eagles and other birds.
Starflowers need very little direct sun light but they like some bright light. There are areas in evergreen forests that are so dark that nothing will grow unless a tree falls and creates a new clearing.
We went walking in some woods near Stockbridge, Massachusetts a few years ago and sure enough got (a bit) lost. They were primaeval and endless and humbling. I could easily imagine someone wandering in and never being seen again.
Primeval is a good description Dave. I got very lost in the woods just once, so I think I know how you felt. With 4.8 million acres of forest just in New Hampshire alone we have ample opportunities to disappear, but these days most people are found in a day or two. I can remember when that wasn’t the case though so I have a great deal of respect for the woods, and I try not to do anything foolish.
You certainly have some beautiful wildflowers there! We have two species of foamflowers here too, but they bloom in the high country in late summer.
That’s interesting that they grow at such different elevations. I’ll have to watch your blog closely so I can see them later this summer.
Your hobblebush photo blows away all of my attempts. I stopped this morning (even though I did not have time) and took a few shots, but the flowers were not cooperative. I will keep trying.
It was good to meet you in person today. I very much enjoyed our paddle, even though it was not a huge lake and rained. A bad day paddling is better than a good day at the office.
It was good to meet you to Jim-and Beth! Her exuberance and energy was refreshing and reminded me how much fun it used to be when people her age lived here. I had a great time and it would have been even better without my back problems. I’m glad it wasn’t a wasted trip for you.
Hobblebush flowers aren’t as easy to get a picture of as we would think. I usually underexpose them for a few shots to see if that works, and then still take quite a few shots because I know most of them will be rejects.
Thanks again for the ride around the beaver pond! Hope you can visit again sometime in the not too distant future.
The woods of New Hampshire and Michigan look similar, but you have many different plants than we do here.
I think that what John Muir said applied to an earlier time, but there are people now who have never set foot outside of a city, and couldn’t care less about the natural world, because to those people the city is their natural world, and the woods are strange, frightening places to them.
I agree, and that’s too bad. If they only knew waht they were missing.
It was a lovely walk, and I always learn something from each of your posts.
Thank you Judy. I’m glad that it was a learning experience-I learned quite a lot too.
Oh! I didn’t know that about hobblebush!
Hobblebush is a really beautiful native shrub, but I’m not sure if it grows in your area. If it does it should be blooming right now along forest edges.
That was an absolutely wonderful walk! Thank you!
You’re welcome!