Things I’ve Seen
March 4, 2020 by New Hampshire Garden Solutions

In my last post I said I had never seen a dandelion blooming in February but never mind; this one was blooming on Leap Day. Now I’ve seen them bloom in all of the coldest months of December, January and February. They’re a hardy plant, and pretty too.

The morning sunlight caught in the trees always makes me slow down on my way to work but on this day it was so beautiful I had to stop. There is little else like a spring morning; cool but with a hint of the warmth that the day will bring. Even as a young boy a morning like this one made me so happy I felt like I could become part of it; maybe I could float up into the trees with the birds and sing their praises along with them. I know just how they feel on such beautiful mornings, and I’ve known for a very long time. It’s about what a joy it is to be alive.

I was splitting wood at work and picked up a log and found these winter oysterling mushrooms (Panellus ringens) growing on it. At least I think that’s what they are after comparing them to photos and descriptions I’ve found online. I can’t find them in any of my mushroom books but I did see some examples found in Connecticut online. They’re small and said to be reddish brown but my color finding software sees more orange than red. They are a true winter mushroom that doesn’t mind the cold and they were as limber as my ear lobe. They’re said to be bioluminescent, but I have no way of confirming that.

Winter oysterlings have an off center stem. It seems odd how they grow with their gills up but in my experience mushrooms want their spore bearing surfaces pointed toward the ground and what I saw as up might have been down while they grew on the log. I didn’t see them until their log reached the wood splitter so it was hard to know how they grew. This photo does show how they’ve erupted out of a flattish mass.

When I split open another log I saw future fungi in the form of mycelium. For those who don’t know, mycelium can be compared to roots in the way that they reach out from the fruiting body of a fungus to search for moisture and nutrients. Botanically it is the vegetative structure of a fungus and the mushrooms we see above ground grow from it. They can be tiny or as large as a forest. The largest one known covers 2,385 acres in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. Unfortunately it is from the Armillaria ostoyae fungus, which is parasitic on tree roots and will kill trees.

If you strip the inner bark (phloem) of an oak log you can find fibers that are useful in the making of lashings and cordage. Once the fibers are twisted together to make cordage they are quite strong and can be used for anything we would normally use string or rope for. The outer bark had fallen off this oak log naturally due to weather, exposing the fibers underneath. The phloem carries food to the rest of the tree so normally these fibers would run parallel to the length of the log but the weather must have had its way with these because they were all in a jumble as you see here. Native Americans turned tree fibers into threads and cords and made ropes, fishing lines, nets, mats, baskets and even shoes out of them.

Another red oak log just happened to split just right to reveal an insect’s egg chamber deep inside. When you see a woodpecker pecking at a tree this is what it’s looking for. I’m not sure what the insect was but before I split the log open there were about 30 larvae in this one chamber. Lots of protein for a hungry bird.

This is what a pileated woodpecker can do to a tree when it looks for those larvae in the previous photo. It had almost cut this dead beech right in half and wood chips littered the snow.

A beech log when cut revealed spalting. Spalted wood is evidence of fungal damage. Sometimes woods affected by fungi can become very desirable to woodworkers, and spalted wood is one of them. Spalting is essentially any form of wood coloration caused by fungi but there are 3 major types; pigmentation, white rot and zone lines. Sometimes all 3 can be present as they are on the end grain of the beech in the above photo. Pigmentation is the blue gray color, which is probably caused by bluestain or sapstain. White rot is in any areas that look soft or pulpy, and the zone lines are the dark, narrow lines found radiating randomly throughout the log.

This is what a spalted log looks like when it has been split. They can be very beautiful and when sawed into planks can be worth quite a lot of money.

I’m seeing lots of orange crust fungi on the logs I’m splitting. I think they’re one called Stereum complicatum. It’s color is so bright it’s like a beacon in the woods and it can be seen from quite far away on fallen branches. The complicatum part of its scientific name means “folded back on itself” and that is often just what it does.

I picked up a log and put it on the wood splitter and saw what I thought was a leaf fluttering in the wind, and then I saw the legs and realized it was a butterfly. A butterfly in February? Apparently, and the closest I can come with an identification is the question mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis.) According to what I’ve read September laid eggs develop into the winter form of the butterfly, which appear in late fall and spend the winter in various shelters. This one had no shelter and hung onto this log for dear life in a strong wind. When I took photos the log it was on was vibrating on the log splitter so this is the best of a bad lot. Its long white legs reminded me of the Rockette dancers.

Whenever I see spruce gum on a tree I always wonder who the first person was to peel it off the tree and chew it. When I see it I don’t think of chewing it, but someone did. If you gently heat the resin, which is called spruce gum, of the black spruce tree (Picea mariana,) it will melt down into a liquid which can then be strained and poured into a shallow pan or other container to cool. After about half an hour it will be hardened and very brittle, and when broken into bite sized pieces it can be chewed like any other gum. Spruce gum is antiseptic and good for the teeth. It has been chewed by Native Americans for centuries and was the first chewing gum sold in the United States.

Sweet gale (Myrica gale) is also called bog rosemary. It likes to grow on the banks of acidic lakes, bogs and streams. Touching the foliage releases a sweet, pleasant scent from its resinous leaves which have been used for centuries as a natural insect repellent. Though it is a native plant here it also grows native in Europe, where it is used as an ingredient in beer making in some countries. It is also used in an ointment used to treat sensitive skin and acne. Its buds are very pretty, but also very small. They will open and flower in spring.

Two or three years the white pines (Pinus strobus) in this area had a mast year and tens of thousands of pine cones fell. This year strong winds have stripped branches from the trees and every one I look at is loaded with tiny undeveloped cones like the one in this photo, so it looks like we’re headed for another mast year for white pines. Mast are the fruits, seeds and nuts of trees and shrubs, which are eaten by wildlife. Hard mast is made up of nuts, seeds and cones and soft mast are berries, apples and such. A mast year means lots of food for wildlife like the white footed mouse, which carries Lyme disease, so they do have an impact on humans as well. This cone was about an inch long.

Here is something I’d bet most people never see; the open spore cases of the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis.) This fern is a good wetland indicator and they grow all alongside streams and rivers in the almost always wet soil. Their shin high, spore bearing fronds full of round black spore cases make them very easy to see in winter but I rarely see them opened as these were.

This is what sensitive fern spore cases usually look like. Early colonists noticed that this fern was very sensitive to frost and they gave it its common name. It has toxic properties and animals rarely eat it, but some Native American tribes used its root medicinally.

A mud puddle had evaporated but it left these long ice crystals behind. Puddle ice is an endless source of fascination and beauty.

In my experience I’ve only seen ice needles in spring or fall before the ground freezes or after it has thawed, so these examples that I saw recently were a good sign of spring. When the air temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit right at the soil surface and the soil and groundwater remains thawed, hydrostatic pressure can force the groundwater, sometimes super cooled, out of the soil where it freezes instantly into a “needle.” As more water is forced out of the soil the process is repeated over and over, and each needle grows in length because of more water freezing at its base. From what I’ve seen the needles almost always freeze together and form ribbons, but few of these did.

Though this photo of Mount Monadnock may not look very spring like, down here in the lowlands most of the snow is gone and what’s left is melting quickly. The record keepers at the state capital say that February was 3.5 degrees above average, and that makes for a short winter. Flowers are starting to bloom and the red winged blackbirds have returned. The furnace runs less each day and grass is greening up in places, so though the calendar might not say spring yet all signs are certainly pointing to it.
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first; be not discouraged – keep on – there are divine things, well envelop’d; I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell. ~Walt Whitman
Thanks for coming by.
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Posted in General gardening | Tagged American Beech Spalting, Canon EOS Rebel T6, February Blooming Dandelion, Fungal Mycelium, Hancock New Hampshire, Ice Needles, Inner Bark Fibers, Insect Egg Chamber, Keene, Mount Monadnock Jaffrey NH, Mushrooms, Native Plants, Nature, New Hampshire, NH, Olympus Stylus TG-870, Orange Crust Fungus, Pileated Woodpecker Damage, Puddle Ice, Question Mark Butterfly, Sensitive Fern Spore Cases, Spring, Spruce Gum, Sunrise, Swanzey New Hampshire, Sweet Gale Buds, White Pine Cone, White Pine Mast Year, Wild Mushrooms, Winter Hiking, Winter Oysterling Mushroom, Winter Plants, Winter Woods | 23 Comments
I discovered your blog while doing a photo search of the net to try to identify a winter fungi (exidia recisa, it turns out). I live in Quebec City but have frequented the Monadnack region of NH for a dozen years, so I was astounded and excited to realize that one of the photos I came upon in my search was from an area I love. To me, your blog is a public service, not only an obvious labour of love. It is informative, entertaining, and beautiful and from it I am learning so much that pertains even to the forest habitats of my region. Thank you so much for generously sharing your experiences and knowledge of your natural world. And for the meditative words at the end of each segment. Once this travel ban lifts and I can return to your neck of the woods, I will have an enriched understanding of where I am. All the best to you.
You’re welcome, and thank you very much Karen. I’m glad you found the black jelly. They’re on the rare side here but I see them now and then.
I’ve never thought of the blog as a public service but a large part of it goes to trying to help people understand what they are seeing, so thank you for seeing it that way. I make no apologies for trying to get people interested in nature, because I know they’ll feel better if they do.
I hope you’ll be able to get back to New Hampshire sooner rather than later, and I hope you’ll get to see all of these bits of nature in person. Just let me know if I can help!
The spalted wood is very beautiful; I can imagine that it would be prized highly by a cabinet maker or joiner. I find it amazing that mature butterflies can survive your freezing winters merely by hiding under a log or in a narrow crevice somewhere! Nature is so surprising sometimes!
Thank you Clare. Spalted wood is also uncommon in my experience so I’m sure that adds to its value.
Yes, I was very surprised to see that butterfly! I’ve heard that some caterpillars could freeze solid and live but I never knew a butterfly could. It must have antifreeze in its veins.
So much to see in late winter! The spalted wood is beautiful, and the winter butterfly fascinating.
Thank you Lavinia. I wish that was a better shot of the butterfly. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen in winter.
The ice crystals are fascinating. I have never seen them here but I will keep a look out next winter (if we get some good frosts).
Thank you. The ice needles grow on moist, sandy ground. I’ve also seen them in gravel.
I hope you are wrong about the mast year for the white pines, the ticks have already been too plentiful in NH in the past few years and lyme disease can be very debilitating. How do you protect yourself on your walks through the woods? Early last summer the ticks were everywhere, until a neighbor reported a bobcat came through our area and we noticed the squirrels and chipmunks had all but disappeared and so, it seemed, had the ticks.
Thank you Barbara, I hope I’m wrong too. I had to rake up cones for weeks from the last mast year and it was unbelievable how many there were.
I always use Deep Woods Off because it’s the only insect spray that I’ve found that works. I spray the tops of my socks and my pant legs with it.
I think any animal out there is probably covered with ticks, which is too bad.
I googled ‘are winter oyster mushrooms edible?’ and came up with a huge YES! http://foragedfoodie.blogspot.com/2016/12/winter-oyster-mushroom-identification.html
Thank you. The article speaks about two different oyster mushrooms and says the ones I found can be bitter, but in any event you should always talk to an expert before eating any mushroom.
Thank you for your wonderful, thoughtful, and observant offerings. I really enjoy and learn! All the best, Kathleen.
On Wed, Mar 4, 2020 at 4:13 AM New Hampshire Garden Solutions wrote:
> New Hampshire Garden Solutions posted: ” In my last post I said I had > never seen a dandelion blooming in February but never mind; this one was > blooming on Leap Day. Now I’ve seen them bloom in all of the coldest months > of December, January and February. They’re a hardy plant, and pretty too. ” >
Thanks very much Kathleen, I’m happy to hear that!
I love your butterfly, I’ve never seen one this early. And the beetle nest was very cool.
Thank you Sara. Mike Powell knows much more about insects than I do and he thinks the butterfly might be an Eastern Comma. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a winter butterfly until I saw this one!
Lots of fascinating facts that caught my attention. I was especially intrigued by your comments on spalting and the accompanying photos. As for the butterfly, it’s hard to tell for sure, but I wonder if it might be an Eastern Comma, which looks very similar to the Question Mark. Like the Mourning Cloak butterfly, Eastern Comma butterflies are known to overwinter as adults and the underside of logs is exactly where they are to be found.
Thanks Mike, I think it could be either one, judging from the photos I’ve seen online. I wish I’d gotten a better photo of it but I’m leaning toward the eastern comma, because under a log is exactly where it was. As you know I don’t really “do” insects so thanks for the help!
Thanks. The markings on the wing are a bit different–if it is just a semi circle, it’s a comma and if it is a semi circle with a dot, it’s a question mark. I can’t see the marking clearly enough in your photo. I saw a half dozen or more of similar butterflies today here in Virginia, but have not been able to study the markings of the one that I managed to photograph.
Fascinating, especially about the insect egg-laying pattern inside the tree. It resembles that of the amazing carpenter bee, which mimics the bumblebee.
Winter of 2018/2019 was, for the U.S., colder and snowier than normal:
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-forecast-accuracy-2019-36150
I don’t know about your particular neck-of-the-woods, but as you know regional temperatures can vary from the national average, especially when they are away from the center of the country, which gets hit hardest by the bowing Arctic blasts.
I don’t have the figures handy, but I think the same kind of cold and snowy weather happened again this winter. We appear to be entering a Grand Solar Minimum again due to the sun entering a 400 year-cycle quiet phase. The end of the last GSM, “The Little Ice Age” (1300-1870), marked the period of a more active sun, which lasted until about 2000.
Crops have suffered badly in the past two years and grow zones are already shifting south. When you combine that with the coronavirus, that spells trouble at the supermarket.
On Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 6:13 AM New Hampshire Garden Solutions New Hampshire Garden Solutions posted: ” In my last post I said I had > never seen a dandelion blooming in February but never mind; this one was > blooming on Leap Day. Now I’ve seen them bloom in all of the coldest months > of December, January and February. They’re a hardy plant, and pretty too. ” >
Thank you Ron. I go to scientists for weather information, not the Old Farmer’s Almanac, and according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Based on preliminary analysis, the average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 52.7°F, 0.7°F above the 20th century average. The first two months of meteorological winter (December 2019 – January 2020) were the warmest on record for the contiguous U.S. in data going back to 1895.
Splitting wood leads to very interesting discoveries, thanks for enlightening us.
You’re welcome Susan. Yes, there are always lots of surprises when you split wood.