Our Australian Tree Fern is about 15 feet tall now and new fronds are coming out from the center. When fully grown, a frond is about 4-5 feet long and 1-2 feet wide. This photo was taken from a second story window. #nature#ferns#florida#trees#naturephotography
Wild mushrooms I saw on a hike back in the summer of 2011. Too much green and lack of variety to make it an art print (for me, at least) so it's been gathering dust on my hard drives over the past thirteen years.
Atmos argues this is bad for science and society. "Duke University is closing its century-old herbarium—a legendary plant collection and training ground—to the outcry of many."
Very few trail scenes beat the look and feel of running thru a silent and still misty forest. It's like all the rest of the universe drops away, and all that remains is my body, the trail, and a small bubble of peace and tranquility that moves with me through the cool, gray void 🌲🩶
I'm watching #WinterWatch. Which generall] I love.
But Chris Packham's discussion of fern lifecycles was rubbish. Gametophytes are pretty common - you don't need to go to temperature rainforest. There are loads in my garden (which has a sheltered damp spot). In Edinburgh, they're easy to spot along the Water of Leith between Stockbridge and the Dean Bridge.
Ok, I'm not the target audience - I grew Pteridium gametophytes and sporophytes too when I was doing my PhD, but still.
Incidentally, fern gametophytes are easy to grow. They will be found in most warm, damp greenhouses. If you've got ferns growing, they started as a gametophyte.
I've a potted Polypodium aureus (sporophyte) which is either the original, a clone of, or the offspring of a plant which grew by accident in a pot of bracken. (So it's nearly 40 years old.)
It produces a lot of spores, and from them grow gametophytes - and thence sporophytes.
I like how the water looks almost like ice in this still; more, I like the lesson that even the smallest waterfall is mighty from a certain perspective 💦
I wasn't sure I would share this photo because it's a scene that feels common in the forests I love, but then I realized that's exactly why I should share:
Not all the magic of life is extraordinary—sometimes we live with magic all around us. It's important that we remember to pause and be grateful for everyday magic 🙏💚
Also:
Here's another example of Sol's mighty power, the light of our life so bright that its radiant orb occludes a tree trunk set between the sun and the camera. I love that ☀️😮💛
I captured both of these scenes on the same day, on the same run. Crossing the snowline, in both directions, was like stepping into an entirely different world. Magical 🤩