They grow in association with a fungus that enables germination and provides nutrients to the plant. After the plant is established it provides nutrients to the fungus, in turn. |
They grow in association with a fungus that enables germination and provides nutrients to the plant. After the plant is established it provides nutrients to the fungus, in turn. |
Here's a favorite wildflower of mine, the blue flag, Iris versicolor. It grows wild in wetlands and along shorelines and has been adopted by gardeners. I saw this one growing by a fresh water ponds at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on the New Jersey coast. Is it not stunning? I feel well rewarded for choosing that path. Click to enlarge. |
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Today I am one with the basking animals. I've spent hours lounging outdoors in delightful weather -- cool air and warm sunshine. I was not alone. Eastern fence lizards, like the one above, are out of hibernation and back to their basking posts. |
And the turtles, as usual, are jockeying for the best basking spots. Click to enlarge. |
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I was walking past this wooden fence at Batsto Village in the New Jersey Pine Barrens last week when I noticed this: |
Big insects on the fence! Click to enlarge. |
Turned out it was not two insects, but a dragonfly resting after recently emerging from its empty skin (on the right). |
Hard to believe that an elegant and delicate dragonfly used to be this creepy looking aquatic nymph, right? |
It grew up to become the sleek brown stream cruiser, Didymops transversa. |
This week I took a walk in the pine barrens at Pakim Pond in Brenden T. Byrne State Forest in Woodland Township, NJ. I love when the clouds are reflected in the still surface of the lake like this. Click to enlarge. |
I was walking on this path when I glanced down and found... |
Pyxiemoss flowers! I've read about this plant but had never found it, so -- I am bragging now. The little white flowers are a pretty sight in the brown spring woods, peeking out from under fallen leaves and needles. |
It's an east coast native, possible from New York to South Carolina but only in piney sandy places, so it's limited to a few areas within its range. It only blooms from late March through early May. Oh, and pyxiemoss is not a moss. It is a flowering plant that grows in low moss-like mats. |