April Showers and Mayflowers

 One of the earlier blooming plants in the local forest is the Trailing Arbutus, also known as the Mayflower.   

             

Trailing Arbutus buds just before bloom.

    These small evergreen vines grow close to the ground, often obscured by leaf litter. They have oval shaped leaves that usually have a brownish orange "fuzz" on them all year round, but towards the end of winter the vines also develop small buds.

 In early spring, the buds open to reveal small flowers of white, or sometimes pink.

Some pretty pink Arbutus

You might not know it, because they grow so close to the ground, but Arbutus flowers are quite fragrant. Many people find their fragrance to be rather pleasing, and because of this they were once plucked with abandon. According to some sources, this nearly had disastrous results for the pretty little forest flowers. 

                                                                         The more common white Arbutus                                                                             

                                       

  Fortunately the species managed to keep their foothold, and in some areas have begun to thrive again. I am lucky enough to have Trailing Arbutus growing near my home in fairly decent amounts.

A nice sized patch of Arbutus in full bloom

                             

And as of this week, these little early bloomers have begun to open, giving rise to further hope that here in South Eastern New England, spring is truly just around the corner.

For real this time. no foolin'. Not like those other years.....

Mosses!

A peek of green in the melting snow. This type of moss seems to prefer growing on rotting wood

Spring hasn't really begun it's full swing yet here in New England, as my most recent walk through the woods has shown me. There are a few points of green starting to show through, but the majority of vivid green right now comes from mosses.

 moss growing at the base of a tree

  Moss is a (usually but not always) bright green plant that is often found growing on the ground or the occasional rock or rotten wood, and usually looks a lot like a carpet. If you've ever stopped for a minute and run your hands through some moss, you might even notice it feels a lot like a carpet.

This moss has interesting cup shaped ends. It is softer than it might look!

  Moss loves shady and damp places, so there is quite an abundance of it here in my neck of the woods, as we have many ponds and streams and a fair amount of forest.

Damp moss is happy moss

  Mosses don't have flowers like many other plants have, but you may have seen moss with what appeared to be flowers on long thin stalks. Some mosses reproduce through spores, and the strange "flowers" you see are called Sporophytes, they are used to disperse the spores.

this moss is very happy on it's rocky perch above a stream. you can see several of the sporophytes here.

  Mosses were among the first land plants on Earth, and not a whole lot about them has changed over the years. It's kind of interesting to see them and know their kind was here before any animals ever were.

These colorful mosses decorate a fallen tree.

  I particularly enjoy the way their color lights up the forest while i wait for the other plants to wake up from their winter naps.
                                                 

This vine-like moss enjoys climbing the trunks of living trees.