Last weekend we had a beautiful warm, sunny Saturday so I decided to visit one of my favorite places, an old railroad cut in Westmoreland that in winter becomes a cold, hard world of ice and stone.
There was so much snow that I wasn’t sure if I’d see any living thing other than trees. I was surprised to find the wind blowing here because the day was calm. It is always at least 10 degrees cooler here than the surrounding area, winter or summer, and now I’m beginning to wonder if the place doesn’t create its own wind as well because, as I think back to previous trips, it always seems to be blowing here.
In the deepest, most shaded part of this man made canyon a group of ice climbers were training. I’ve recently learned that the New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Mountain Club holds ice climbing clinics here and it looked like that was what was going on. I didn’t bother them and let them have the ice to themselves. Ice was not what I was here for.
Still, it’s impossible to ignore the ice formations. With ice like this it’s no wonder that they come here to train. I saw some rotten ice but I’m sure they know enough about what they do to avoid it.
This is what I came for-to see something green and growing. Mosses, lichens, liverworts and an incredible assortment of ferns and other plants have grown undisturbed in this place for nearly 2 centuries. I think someone could easily spend a lifetime trying to identify them all.
This is a very wet place, with groundwater constantly running down the rock faces, and the mosses love it. This mountain haircap moss (Polystrichastrum pallidisetum) still had a few closed spore capsules (sporophytes) meaning that it’s busy trying to cover even more stone ledges.
This tree that has fallen and spanned the gap is my signal to start looking for liverworts, but as I looked at the ice covered walls it was hard to imagine anything growing in such harsh conditions.
Fortunately in places the sun warms the stone enough to keep the walls clear of ice and this is where many plants choose to grow.
I saw a few clusters of velvet shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) growing on a dying American elm. This is a true “winter mushroom” that fruits from September to March and can live through being frozen solid. When young velvet shanks are ivory colored but age to reddish brown. They are usually dark in the center of the cap and lighter colored toward the edges. These examples were no bigger in diameter than a nickel, but I’ve seen them reach 3 inches.
Velvet shank gets its common name from the velvety feel of its stem, which is lighter near the cap. Jerry from the Quiet Solo Pursuits blog thought of the idea of using a telescoping mirror to see the underside of mushrooms instead of kneeling in the snow. I bought one and it works great but this one was high enough on the tree so I didn’t need to use it. The mirror idea might be good for those who have trouble kneeling.
The first liverwort I saw was the narrow mushroom-headed liverwort (Preissia quadrata). This liverwort can be either male or female, or have can have both male and female reproductive structures on a single plant. Fruiting structures are short, umbrella shaped, spore producing growths that usually appear in March. The examples in the photo were just starting to grow fruiting bodies, which are the 5 or 6 little bumps that can be seen on the body (thallus) of the liverwort. I’ve circled one in white to make it easier to see. These will rise on short stalks before opening like an umbrella. Male reproductive structures will have flat tops and look like small mushrooms and females will look like tiny palm trees. I hope to be there to see them.
The snakeskin liverwort (Conocephalum conicum) reproduces in much the same way as the narrow mushroom-headed liverwort, but I didn’t find any getting ready to do so just yet. This is also called great scented liverwort and I remembered to smell it this time. I was astonished by its fresh, clean scent that immediately reminded me of air fresheners. It was kind of lemony, kind of spicy, but in the end impossible to accurately describe because I’ve never smelled anything exactly like it. It’s another interesting facet of an interesting and very unusual plant.
Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) was a plant I didn’t expect to see growing on these rocks in February but there it was, still attached to its parent by its runner (stolon).
It looks like the old lineman’s shack is going to make it through another winter even though half of the roof, most of the floor, and most of the siding boards are gone. Many were taken to be used as bridges across the drainage ditches on either side of the rail bed and they can still be seen here and there along the trail.
I don’t know when it was built but according to the graffiti on its back wall the shack will see at least its 90th anniversary next year. My father was born and grew up in this town and I can’t help but wonder if he ever saw the inside of this building. He was 18 in 1925.
It’s going to be a while before all of the ice has melted in this place but spring is happening, even here.
There is beauty, heartbreaking beauty, everywhere. ~ Edward Abbey
Thanks for coming by.
That railroad cut must be a great place to go on a hot August day. Really love the mountain haircap moss.
It is a great place when it’s hot because there always seems to be a cool breeze blowing through.
Nice to see some greenery there. The smallest sign of spring is still a sign right?
Yes, at this point I’ll take anything I can get. They’re saying it’ll be even colder here next week.
Last weekend was such a tease but also a hint of promise that spring is on its way. Love the undershot of the mushroom and the dates on the little shack. That’s how I feel on top of Monadnock with initials and dates carved in the rock.
Thanks. I know what you mean. I don’t always agree with grafitti but it’s interesting to see 100 years later.
I’m hoping spring has a calendar and knows it’s due to make an appearance soon!
Love your posts!!
Thank you, I’m glad to hear it.
I’m always amazed at all the living things you find in the winter. I love the little botany lessons too. If we’d get above frigidly cold (I’m not even looking for above freezing), I’d get out and see what I might find.
It does help to know where to look but the only way you get to know that is by getting out there and searching. It has been a rough winter but it can’t last forever. I hope we all see warmer weather very soon.
Your hikes are full of such interest and enthusiasm. It is catching.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy them. Several regular readers seem to be getting more interested in fungi and lichens and I’m happy to see it happening. It’s a fascinating world.
Buffy and I hiked this morning. I found a script lichen on ironwood trees, which I don’t remember seeing it before. My Lichens of the North Woods came today. I plan occasional lichens blogs and mosses too.
I think you’ll like the book. Not every lichen you see will be in it, but I got a good lichen education from it.
The wild strawberry is a surprise.
It sure was. I never knew they were that hardy.
Great post, love the pictures! 🙂 My kind of weather and place to hike!
Thanks Michael. It’s a great place to spend a few hours exploring.
Very interesting as always, thank you for introducing me to a new world.
You’re welcome Susan. There are a lot of fascinating things to see out there.
Great post and photos… full of information what i like.. thanks
Thank you Amanda, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Those darned wild strawberries that I yank from my garden every spring are everywhere! Love the shots and had no idea the snakeskin liverwort had a smell to it. I will try to find some! As always, fascinating, educational and fun post.
Thanks! I know what you mean Martha, my back yard is full of wild strawberries too. They’re pretty tasty though!
That liverwort has such a fresh, clean scent that I’d buy it if it came in a bottlle. It would make a great air freshener.
I’m glad that the mirror idea is working, you may find it useful in other ways as you go along, and thanks for the shout out!
You find so many interesting plants and other things in this spot. Your posts from this spot have inspired me to return to the ledges of Grand Ledge, MI to see if I can find similar plants growing there. Lower Michigan is more or less a pile of sand and gravel left behind when the glaciers retreated, the ledges are one of the few places I know of where there are exposed rocks down here.
You’re welcome Jerry, and thanks. Grand ledge sounds like a name with a lot of promise. If they’re high enough I wonder if ice formations grow there as well. It might be worth a trip in winter-ice can be fairly impressive. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you found plenty of mosses and liverworts there too.
Yes, heartbreaking beauty abounds out there, Allen…. Another nice post.
Thanks Scott. I thought that was a good description of the things I see.
You’re welcome…and I agree. 🙂
The velvet shank mushroom is a new one for me, enjoyed your post!
Thanks! Velvet shanks are a common winter mushroom, but I think they only grow on elms and oaks.
Have you ever looked at the cut in a glacial sense-did rock ID? I am reading the Thorson books on stone and walls, so am curious to know about such a fab “laboratory” You have piqued my long time interest in lichens, which pairs well with his books, but I am finding my brain a bit overloaded….jini foster
No, to be honest I’ve been so fascinated by the diverse plant life I find there that I’ve barely noticed the rock itself. One thing I do know is that it isn’t granite-coming from the “granite state” I notice when something isn’t.
Also unusual is the fact that the narrow mushroom headed liverworts prefer calcium rich stones, which are rare here. They also don’t like acid soil, which we have in abundance, so clearly something unusual is going on in this place. I’ll pay closer attention to the substrate on my next visit.
Enjoyed sharing the walk with you. Each photo holds interest and something to wonder about. Always amazing to see the variety of life forms that survive even on rock.
Thanks Grampy. It really is amazing that so many plants can grow in what seems like little more than a thimble full of soil.
Clever idea using a mirror. If the edges were marked it could also double as a device for recording scale.
That’s a good idea too Jim. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like that though. I wonder if they make them?
Reblogged this on Oxtapus *blueAction.
Thank you for the reblog.
🙂