Wildflowers on the Cap Gap tail - first days of April...

Bloodroot

 

 

Dimpled Trout Lily

 

 

 

Halberd-leaved Violet

Maroon-colored Wake Robin

Wood Anemone

Appalachian Bunchflower

 

April 4 , 7 - 2022

The first days of spring - walk around the lake...

 

First days of spring - the trees begin to bloom, although there are no leaves yet; but I did notice a lot of lichen covering the trees. They look very special, sometimes exotic and peculiar.  

Lichens are the special organisms and there are no two are alike. They are created by a symbiosis of two different organisms: fungi and algae, and both of these organisms provide each other with nutrients. The dominant organism is the fungus, which gives the lichen most of its characteristics. The algae can be green or blue-green, and many lichens have both types of algae.  

Lichens can be found on bark, rocks or walls; in forests, deserts or tundra - they look like plants or fungus. And for a long time they were considered as fungus or plants. In 1867, the Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener introduced his hypothesis that lichens are complex organisms - fungi that live together with microscopic algae.

 

Mosses and lichens...on the trail in DuPont 

Lichens under snow

 

Pierwsze dni wiosny - drzewa zaczynają kwitnąć, chociaż nie ma jeszcze liści; ale zauważyłam dużo porostów pokrywających drzewa. Wyglądają one wyjątkowo, czasem egzotycznie i osobliwie.  

Porosty to szczególne organizmy i nie ma dwóch takich samych. Powstają w wyniku symbiozy dwóch różnych organizmów: grzybów i alg, które dostarczają sobie nawzajem składników odżywczych. Dominującym organizmem jest grzyb, który nadaje porostom większość jego cech. Algi/glony mogą być zielone lub niebiesko-zielone, i wiele porostów ma oba rodzaje glonów.  

Porosty można znaleźć na korze, skałach lub ścianach; w lasach, pustyniach czy tundrze – wyglądają jak rośliny lub grzyby.  

Przez długi czas uważano je za grzyby lub rośliny. W 1867 roku szwajcarski botanik Simon Schwendener przedstawił swoją hipotezę mówiącą, że porosty to złożone organizmy - grzyby żyjące razem z mikroskopijnymi glonami.

 

Mosses and lichens...on the trail in DuPont 

Lichens under snow / Porosty pod śniegiem

 

Early Spring walk in Silvermont Park...

Silvermont Mansion - a beatiful old mansion built by Transylvania Industrialist Joseph Silversteen in 1917. This estate, located in downtown Brevard, is surrounded by an 8 acres county park. 

On the short walk aroud the mansion I found some blomming flowers: camilia, magnolia, lentil roses, daffadils, and  snowdrops...

 

 

 

  

In search of spring ...

 

Winter is still on the calendar, but we can already see some signs of spring all around: more green, small fresh mushrooms on the trunks and some spring flowers...

The resurrection fern (Polypodium polypodioides). 

Although resurrection ferns grow on top of other plants, they do not steal nutrients or water from their host plant. Most often they grow on live oaks.

Rain is associated with the common name of the plant. Polypodium polypodioides means "resurrected fern": in dry weather the leaves of the ferns curl, turn brown and appear dead - until the next rain, when they turn green and come back to life.

New lichens cover the old tree trunks

New mushrooms appeared on the trees

Daffodils can be seen everywhere 

 White Crocuses are the first flowers to bloom in spring

Lenten Rose, Winter Rose, Hellebore… this plant is unique! 

The common name of Lenten rose refers to the plant's bloom season, which is around the Christian season of Lent (late winter), and flower buds resemble roses.

Daphne odora  common names: Dwarf Bay, Fragrant Daphne, Paradise Plant, Spurge Flax, Spurge Laurel, Winter Daphne.

Daphne has attractive leaves (many of them evergreen). Beautiful pink flower buds with a sweet fragrance bloom in winter and early spring.