And so the skies split open and the rains poured from the heavens and not even the dams of the beaver could contain them. And back in the woods along the trail, the small stream was flowing rapidly, zigzagging its way over the sandstone bed.
Rushing its way towards Moose Head Falls...
so named by a visiting garden club who thought the decaying stump nearby resembled a moose's head.....can you see it??
The rains have made for a soggy landscape. But water is a good thing, especially when it highlights a bowl and doily spider's web as in the photo below.
I took a walk back in the woods to check the progress of spring and the trail conditions. The Devil's Urn fungus, pictured in the last blog, has now split open and caught the rain water. Once the water evaporates the fungus will be able to release its spores from the inter-surface of the cup.
The Spicebush is now in full bloom and the under story of the forest has a yellow haze about it.
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Closeup of Spicebush flower
Every plant is coated with the tears of the clouds and maybe some human tears too! The foliage below is garlic mustard, a highly invasive plant that can crowd out native vegetation. |
When I bent down to pull it, I discovered something lurking beneath the lush green garlic mustard leaves. In the photo below, the arrow is pointing to a young Mayapple that was completely covered by the alien plant.
A little father up the trail, Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thacictroides) is up and blooming. Just a week ago it was still tightly folded and a dark purplish color.
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Close up of Blue Cohosh flower with of course water droplets.
So as the water soaks into the woodland soil and the temperature continue to raise, the parade of wildflowers will quickly explode, capturing the sun's energy, to bloom and set seeds before the forest canopy emerges and blots out the light. The every changing world of Wahkeena is at full throttle.
Posted by Tom
With "arrow" assistance by Nora
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