Here are a few more of those out of the ordinary things that I stumble across in my travels.
Like the bones of a prehistoric reptile or the ruins of an ancient castle, beard lichens (Usnea) always remind me of the great age and great mysteries of this earth. This one has become an old friend and I visit it often. Most lichens refuse to grow where there is air pollution, so seeing them is always a good sign.
Ground dwelling lichens like this bubblegum lichen (Icmadophila ericetorum) will become covered with leaves and harder to see before too long. This lichen gets its common name from the bubble gum pink fruiting bodies.
Scattered rock posy lichen (Rhizoplaca subdiscrepans) grows on stones in full sun, so it will be visible all winter long. This is one of my favorite lichens and one of the most beautiful, in my opinion.
Beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) are dropping their ripe nuts now and I saw a few places last week where the forest floor was littered with them. The chipmunks and squirrels have been busy though, so you find more empty husks than anything else.
If you harvest beechnuts and then leave them alone for a day or two they will open like the one in the photo, and out will drop two kernels. Like many trees and other plants, beech trees will have a year of heavy production, known as a mast year, and then produce very few nuts for a few years afterwards. Since most of the kernels I opened were empty I have to assume that this isn’t a mast year.
The black, shiny wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) berries are ripening. This year has been amazing as far as the bounty of nuts, fruits, and berries I’ve seen. I think the birds and animals will have a good winter with plenty to eat.
Now is the time to turn over the leaves of the common polypody fern (Polypodium virginanum ) to see the naked spore capsules, which are called sori. Most ferns have a flap like structure called an indusium that protects their spores, so being able to see them exposed like this is unusual. They always remind me of tiny round baskets full of flowers. The Druids though this fern had special powers because of its habit of growing near oak trees. Its roots and leaves have been used medicinally for many centuries and its name appears in some of the earliest herbal and botanical texts.
Common cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium) grows in every state except Alaska and throughout most of Canada. The spiny parts of the plant in the photo hide its tiny female flowers parts. Male flowers can be seen in the upper part of the photo, just to the right of center. I find cocklebur growing on riverbanks but it can also grow in agricultural areas. Since it can be toxic to livestock it isn’t a favorite of farmers and ranchers. Historically it has been used medicinally by Native Americans and was once used to make yellow dye.
Young boys just need something to throw at each other (and rarely at young girls if they’re trying to get their attention) and it’s as if wild cucumber seed pods (Echinocystis lobata) were specifically designed for that purpose. The spines are scary looking but in reality are soft and aren’t really prickly until they are dried. This one reminded me of a small spiny watermelon.
It’s not hard to see where green foxtail grass (Setaria viridis) gets its common name. This grass is a native annual that grows in clumps. Each bristle, called an awn, comes from a single grass flower and through natural rain and frost action burrows into the ground with the seed once it falls from the seed head. These plants are very dangerous to dogs and other animals because the awns, driven by the animal’s normal muscle movements, can burrow into their skin and cause infection and even death if not treated. Dog owners would be wise to rid their yards of any kind of foxtail grass.
This colony of wooly alder aphids (Paraprociphilus tessellatus) on an alder limb was quite large. These insects can be winged or unwinged and need both silver maples and alders to complete their life cycle. Eggs overwinter in crevices in the bark of silver maple trees. In spring, nymphs hatch and begin feeding on the underside of new leaves. In late May through July, they develop wings and fly to alder trees where they feed on twigs and begin reproducing. Soon the colony is composed of aphids in all stages of development and becomes enveloped in white, fluffy wax as seen in the photo. Some aphids mature, return to silver maple trees and mate. Each mated female lays only one egg, which once again starts the overwintering stage.
I watched the sun come up over a local pond recently and it was at the perfect angle for lighting up water lily stems. Since this isn’t something I often see I thought I’d show them here. These leaf stalks are flexible and coil somewhat to allow for fluctuations in water depth.
I visited a different section of the Ashuelot River one day and found that someone had been stacking rocks. Some Native American tribes believed that stacked rocks were a spiritual method of protecting sacred spaces. They were often built near powerful energy sources like springs or places with high numbers of lightning strikes. Piles and stacks had many different shapes and sizes and each meant something different.
This large red oak stood next to a trail I was following one day. It isn’t the biggest I’ve seen but it was big. I leaned my monopod against it to give an idea of its size. A small sign nearby said that its age is estimated to be 300 years, and that it probably was never cut because it grew on a stone wall. Stone walls are boundary markers here in New Hampshire and it is illegal to remove stones from them or alter them in any way unless they are on your land. I can picture the farmers on either side of the wall not cutting the tree because their neighbor might have claimed ownership. That’s the way we do things here-not wanting to bother our neighbor, instead of asking we wait and see, sometimes for 300 years.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. ~Carl Sagan
Thanks for coming by.
On a radio gardening programme recently someone wanted to know how to get rid of lichen on a tree trunk. It seems there is no pleasing some people – give them pure air and they moan of the consequences. So pleased that the acorn didn’t roll a few feet to one side all those years ago. Dave
That’s true-if they only knew what those lichens meant! I’m g;ad that the oak has had a chance to grow all of those years too, i hope it sees another 300.
There were so many beard lichen in the New Forest trees early in the year they looked like leaves. Those stacked stones are wonderful, I think I need to stack some in my garden 🙂
You air quality must be excellent if you’re seeing that many lichens. I’ve never tried stacking stones but I wouldn’t think it could be that hard. Good luck!
I need to find a nearby source of beech nuts. I’ve pretty well scoured the woods around Sandogardy Pond and come up empty – lot of beech trees, but no nuts!
I’ve stumbled onto 2 or 3 spots, but I’ve heard that beech trees aren’t very reliable as far as nut production goes. Then there is also the beech bark disease that weakens and kills the tree.
A visual and informative treat as always.
Thank you, I’m glad that it was.
I love the Ashuelot River!
Love the deep thick green moss and the smell of earth
Have you seen it? It’s a beautiful river, in places.
I have panned for Gold down deep in the woods love it there 🙂
I’ve heard that the best place to do that is behind Norm’s bike shop off lower Main Street, near wher Beaver Brook and the Branch River meet the Ashuelot.
Thanks yes we go to all kinds of places and poke around but we love when you can find feeder brooks dumping into other streams we will never get RICH but we do have fun cooling the feet and pup 🙂 Pans are cheap get one and take a break along the stream and see what you can find in the bottom of your pan it may pay for the gas and SD cards 🙂
I’ve heard that a few years ago someone pulled a nugget out of the Ashuelot near Surry Mountain that weighed just over an ounce, but I don’t know how true it is. They used to find gold on the mountain though-that I know for sure.
Yes there are abandoned mines all over New England when they came back from CA and AK gold rushes they looked at home too 🙂
It has been a good year for fruits, berries and nuts, the critters will be eating well for a while!
These posts of yours always blow me away with how much there is to be seen and learned.
Thanks! I also learn a lot by doing these posts. They’re fun, but they take a lot of time to put together.
What a nice quote to accompany your incredible images, Allen…and I love the story/thoughts about the 300 year-old tree…let’s not bother the neighbors…. 🙂
Thanks Scott. I’ve used so many of these quotes that I fear there aren’t many new ones left.
That really is how the old timers do things here-above all else, do not bother the neighbors.
You’re welcome, Allen…and I haven’t recognized any repeat quotes…and if there ever are any, they’ll still be fitting reminders…and many of us are getting to the age that we might not remember that you posted them anyway! 🙂
Some fascinating tidbits! So the bubble gum lichen – am I understanding it correctly that the silver plant is the lichen and the pink “bubbles” are the fruiting part of the plant?
Thanks! Yes, that’s it exactly. I find it growing on the ground in dry, sandy soil near pines, birches, and blueberry bushes.
Thanks! I would have thought I was seeing two different plants. Now I know!
I love reading your post, i journey around here in bethlehem where i live often daily, foraging for wild food, mushrooms and wildflowers. yesterday i found a good size stash of brown puffballs in my yard non the less i was so pleased, i have many plants i am trying to identify that i have not seen posted anywhere maybe if u have some time in the future u could help me identify them? i have learned a great deal from all your post and identified many plants .
thanks for all u do and show us this wonderful state we live in , i cant imaging not living here ;-))
katrina
Thank you Katrina. I’m always happy to see people getting some use out of this blog. I’d be happy to try to identify some of your unknowns, but you’ll need to have some decent photos of both flowers and leaves, and any other unusual aspects of the plants in question, such as bark, fruit, etc. You can always contact me using the contact page. I agree-it’s a great state we live in!
Some of the grandest trees I see are in fencerows. We have an old oak that has stood the tests of time due to growing on a border. Great post as always.
Thanks Grampy. Fence and hedge rows seem to be good, safe places for trees. no matter what state they grow in.
I’ve noticed an abundance of nuts and berries also this year. I’m truly hoping that doesn’t mean a long hard winter! I find rock stacks all over the place. I always enjoy seeing them, They seem very zen-like to me.
I hope your life is getting a little easier for you!
I’m with you-I’m hoping for a short, warmish winter again. I hardly ever see rock stacks. I’m not sure why that is, other than I often travel where others don’t go.