Things I’ve Seen

I saw a beech leaf with a bright white crust that I can’t identify on it. It was thin enough to seem part of the leaf and I’ve never seen anything like it.

After two years of seeing hardly any turkey tail fungi (Trametes versicolor) this year I’m seeing them everywhere, and in some beautiful colors too. Over the last two years virtually every one I’ve seen has been in shades of brown but this year blue and purple seem to be the most abundant colors. This bracket fungus gets its common name from the way it resembles a turkey’s tail. According to the American Cancer Society there is some scientific evidence that substances derived from turkey tail fungi may be useful against cancer.

Some of the turkey tails appearing this year have been wearing a deep beautiful blue that I’ve never seen them wear before. Their fuzzy surface makes them look as if they’ve been cut from blue velvet cloth.

These examples in blue, orange, tan, brown and even touches of salmon pink have to be the most colorful and beautiful examples of turkey tails that I’ve seen.  Who can say that there isn’t any color to be seen at this time of year?

Though a polypore will rarely have gills most, including turkey tails, have pores like those seen in the above photo. These pores form tubes and their sides are covered with a spore forming surface called the hymenium. The tubes protect developing spores and help increase the spore producing surface. The size and shape of pores can vary a lot between species and some are small enough so they can’t be seen with the naked eye. Those shown in the photo were challenging but after several tries I was able to get a passable photo of them.

Not all polypore pores look alike though. Some appear stretched and elongated and maze like as the examples in this photo show.

The maze like surface shown in the previous photo belongs to another polypore called the thin maze flat polypore (Daedaleopsis confragosa.) Though its upper surface is zoned like a turkey tail the zones tend to be tan to brown to cream, rather than brightly colored like a turkey tail.  Michael Kuo of Mushroom Expert. com says that this mushroom’s appearance is highly variable, with pores sometimes appearing elongated and sometimes more round. The lower pore bearing surface will also sometimes bruise a reddish color and other times won’t.  Once you get used to seeing and identifying turkey tails though, you’ll never confuse this one for one of them.

Velvet shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) are considered a winter mushroom and are very cold hardy. They grow on standing trees and cause white rot and I find them quite often growing on American elm (Ulmus americana) as they were in this photo, sometimes dusted with snow. The orange caps of these mushrooms often shade to brown in the center. The stem is covered in fine downy hairs and that’s where this mushroom’s common name comes from. When the temperature drops below freezing on a winter day it’s a real pleasure to see them.

This jelly fungus (Dacrymyces palmatus) I found growing on an old hemlock stump was the deepest orange color of any I’ve seen. Jelly fungi can be yellow, orange, white, pink, red, or black and grow on deciduous or evergreen trees. They can absorb up to 60 times their weight in water and when dry are little more than colored scales on wood. I found one recently that had fallen from a tree to the forest floor where it sat on a leaf. I tried to pick it up but it was so slippery that I couldn’t pinch it between my fingers to get a grip on it. It was just like trying to pick up a piece of gelatin, and I quickly gave up the idea of ever holding it in my hand.

A few years ago I found this old hemlock with a zig zag scar and I happened to walk by it again recently. None of us could really explain the scar, which comes right out of the soil and runs about three feet up the trunk. Some thought it might have been caused by lightning and I suppose it’s possible, but lightning strikes usually cause much more damage to a tree than this. I haven’t seen anything similar in Michael Wojtech’s excellent book Bark either.

A while ago I found the two zig zag scars in the center of this photo on another hemlock and I wonder if the scar in the previous photo might not be just a natural occurrence. It’s a mystery.

If you didn’t see an occasional icicle you wouldn’t guess that it was December here in New Hampshire. The temperatures have soared above the average almost every day through November and now December. As of this writing we’re 8.5 degrees above average for the month and if we keep going like we have we might break the record for warmest December going all the way back to 1881.

I did find some ice needles in a wet, shaded spot on an old dirt road. When the air temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit right at the soil surface and the soil and groundwater remain 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 like those seen in the above photo.

The paper thin white puddle ice that makes that strange tinkling sound when it’s broken always takes me back to my boyhood. Seeing this ice on puddles after a long winter meant that spring was here and though nights still got cold and icy, the days were warm and muddy. Before long school would let out for the summer and I’d be free to roam the woods and explore the banks of the Ashuelot River once again. My father would have warmed the seat of my pants for me more than once if he’d known all the foolhardy things I used to get up to back then. He was forever telling me to stay away from the river but for me it was like a magnet, and it taught me so much.

Just like the turkey tails we saw previously the Canada geese have returned after a two year absence. This is a favorite spot of theirs on the Ashuelot River but two years ago they just stopped coming for no apparent reason. I wonder if it was just a coincidence that they and the turkey tails disappeared during two of the worst winters we’ve seen in recent memory, or if they somehow knew that those winters would be severe. I think I lean toward them sensing that those winters would be extreme because I doubt that very much in nature happens merely by coincidence. Anyhow, it’s nice to see the geese and the turkey tails back again; they were missed.

I’m not sure what drives people to stack rocks but I suppose it’s something inside some of us that is almost as old as the rocks themselves. The urge was strong enough to make whoever stacked these rocks go for a walk in what I expect were the frigid waters of the Ashuelot River. Personally I’ve never had the urge to stack rocks but I suppose nature tugs at each of us in different ways. In my opinion they detract from rather than add to the beauty that is found in nature, but I’m sure not everyone feels that way. In this case the river will wash them away in no time at all anyway.

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. ~Joseph Campbell

Thanks for coming by.

 

 

 

 

 

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Things I’ve Seen

I loved the look of the underside of this split gill mushroom (Schizophyllum commune.) I’ve heard that the underside of this fungus could be reddish but until I saw this one I had only seen them in white. The gills split lengthwise as it dries out and that’s where its common name comes from. These are “winter mushrooms” and I often find them very late in the year, even when there is snow on the ground.

 

The cobalt crust fungus (Terana caerulea) is very beautiful and some say very rare, but I wondered if its rarity was because it grew on the underside of fallen oak limbs where they touch the soil surface. Unless the limb was disturbed it would never be seen, so since seeing this one I have peeked under several old rotting limbs to see if I could find another one. I haven’t seen one so maybe it really is rare. Another name for it is velvet blue spread. It can also come in lavender but since I’m colorblind it will always be blue to me.

Along the Ashuelot River in Swanzey there is quite a wide swath of invasive burning bushes (Euonymus alatus,) also called winged euonymus. They are protected by the trees overhead so they don’t begin to turn color until quite late. In this photo they are in their dark orangey-pink phase, but before too long they’ll all be pale pastel pink

This is why there are so many burning bushes along that section of river. The birds seem to love their berries. The bushes are beautiful at this time of year but they shade out native plants and create a monoculture, much like purple loosestrife and Japanese knotweed.

Virgin’s bower leaves (Clematis virginiana) have taken on their fall plum purple shade.

 

In the fall royal ferns (Osmunda regalis) go from green to yellow, and then to orange brown. They grow in low swampy places along the sides of streams and ponds and are one of our most beautiful fern.

 

Blackberry seed gall is caused by the blackberry seed gall wasp (Diastrophus cuscutaeformis.) These very small round hollow galls look like seeds and form in clusters around blackberry stems. Each tiny gall has a stiff, hair like spine and together they form a hairy mass like that in the photo.  I showed this same mass here last spring and it was bright yellow-green and I wondered why it was described as brownish red. Now I know that it just needs time to age.

The many smells of a New England autumn are as pleasing as the foliage colors. One of those smells is that of fermenting grapes, and I have a feeling that the woods will smell like grape jelly for a while this year.

Asparagus plants come in male and female, meaning they are dioecious. If you see a small red berry on your asparagus then you have a female plant, but there has to be a male nearby. You also have asparagus seeds, which can be stored in a cool dry place and planted in the spring.  You’ll wait a while for an edible harvest though.

Some of the junipers are loaded with berries this year. Actually, though they’re called berries, botanically speaking they are fleshy seed cones. Unripe green berries are used to flavor gin and the ripe, deep purple-black berries are the only part of a conifer known to be used as a spice.

 

Velvet shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) are another “winter mushroom” that typically fruits in late fall. I’ve found them with snow on the ground during warm spells in winter, and they can and do survive freezing temperatures. Their stems feel like velvet and, though it can’t be seen well in this photo, are darker at the base and lighten as they get nearer the cap.

I thought these were chanterelle wax cap mushrooms (Hygrocybe cantharellus) but the dark stems didn’t quite match the descriptions. After searching my mushroom books again I realized that they are fuzzy foot mushrooms (Xeromphalina campanella,) so called because of the dense tuft of orange brown hairs at the base of each stem. I found them growing on the side of a mossy log. Each cap is about the same diameter as a nickel. They are one of the most photogenic of all the mushrooms, in my opinion.

While I was looking for more cobalt crust fungi I found this light blue one instead. Like cobalt crust fungus it grew on a limb where it made contact with the soil. It’s a beautiful thing but I haven’t been able to identify it through books or online. If you’re reading this and happen to know what it is I’d love to hear from you.

 

The seeds and seed pods of forked blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum) are so small that I can barely see them, but a macro lens reveals all of the hidden details, including the surprising colors and hairiness of the plant. Each pod carries two tiny seeds and since these plants are annuals those seeds will make sure that a new generation comes along next year.

The object of this post was to show that not all of the beauty is up in the trees at this time of year. We look to the sky and dream of paradise, forgetting that it is all around us, all of the time.

If you are lost inside the beauties of nature, do not try to be found. ~Mehmet Muratildan

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Ice and Stone

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.

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