Nina's Woods

Sunday, June 14, 2019
Nina’s Woods, Farmington, ME

Today was the third walk in our "Second Sunday Nature Walks”.  It was a beautiful sunny morning.  It is nice that the rains have finally stopped and we are able to enjoy being outside.  We met at the trailhead beyond the playground at the Cascade Brook School for a leisurely walk on a short, easy trail.  Six people joined us to see what we would find along the trail.















Our first stop was at the beginning of the trail head.  Anthony gave us an overview of the area and what type of woods we would be walking through. He explained that it was a mixed hardwood and conifer forest with many non-native species directly along the path. He spoke about the many non-native plants inhabiting the edge of the playground which we know as common wildflowers.

We also got to see several summer flowers including the Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) and Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca).  I think these are the first summer flowers we learned as young children.  It was always fun to pull the petals out one by one! Anthony guided one of our fellow explorers through the use of a wildflower field guide. He showed how to use the key to identify a Centaurea maculosa, or Spotted Knapweed flower. Learning to "key out" plants (or fungi, or insects...) isn't always easy at first but it's an important skill for any student of nature.

One of our group pointed out Yarrow growing along the path. Achillea millefolium as Anthony told everyone, was named for Achilles of Greek mythology. His army was said to have used this plant to treat wounds, and millefolium for the feathery milfoil like leaves.























As we started up the trail head Anthony pointed out the Spindle Galls on a Cherry Tree.
                                                                                                                                           
Eriophyid mites are so tiny that we can't see them, but we could see the little finger-like projections that the leaf grows to cover them.  These mites don’t cause harm to the tree, but they were weird looking!  We also noticed several leaves folded in half and tied at the edges with insect silk where moths were pupating.                                                                                 


As we walked along the path, Anthony made note of the many Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) trees that are in the area.  We saw lots of fruit (nuts) on the trees.  They were not ripe so we didn’t try one.  It is hard to find a ripe hazel nut because so many critters like them and as soon as they ripen, the many birds and squirrels eat them before we can!

Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) 

 I was happy to point out the several ferns that we saw along the way.

Narrow Beech Fern, (Phegopteris connectilis)

 

We found a few of the Narrow Beech Ferns, (Phegopteris connectilis)  with it’s last two pinnae pointing downward, what I call the “Fu Manchu” mustache look! Because there were sori on the back of the fern we were able to talk about the location of of sori on different ferns. Sori, are groups of sporangia (which is a packet of spores) in a dot. The Narrow Beech Fern’s sori are on the back of the pinnae along the margins.  The sporangia of the Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia Struthiopteris) are found on a separate fertile stalk coming up from the middle of the fronds.

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia Struthiopteris)

It was fun to talk about the ferns and where the spores are located.

We even managed to find a little Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris).  They look like a miniature of the big Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) that are so common.

 Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris). 

It was time to move onto other plants even though I could look at ferns all day!


Anthony brought along his net hoping to find some interesting bugs or butterflies, but there weren’t many around.  He did try to chase down a frog, but it got the best of him and managed to escape!

We headed to the outdoor classroom area for a few minutes of thoughtful reflection exercises, facilitated by Anthony. He produced a stack of exercises printed on cards and we all chose one. They ranged from closing your eyes and listening to produce a sound map, one was to walk at a normal pace on one direction and walk at a snail's pace back, others involved observing colors or isolating a small area to look closely at the life there. The exercises are the project of a recent Master Naturalist graduate named Rhonda Janelle called Forest Connections. Everyone in our group seemed to really enjoy spending the time on this element of the walk.


As we walked along the trail we did find some interesting plants (pretty flowers)!

Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)

Round-leaf Pyrola (Pyrola americana)

                                                         

       Purple Crown Vetch ( Securigera varia) 

The Purple Crown Vetch grows just about anywhere!

Wood Sorrell (Oxalis stricta)

I love the little Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta) with the shamrock looking leaves.  The leaves have a vinegar taste and they add a nice touch to a salad! 

St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum)

The St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum) is always a fun find even though it is a common summer plant.  I love how it has the bright yellow bushy stamens.  

Our last look at plants were some trees and shrubs.

Common Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

                                                   

We all agreed that the Elderberry smelled really nice!  The fruits can be used to make jams and jellies.  This is an old shrub!  There are recipes for elderberry-based medications dating back to Ancient Egypt.


Our last look was comparing the Small-leaved Linden Tree - (Tilia cordata), (not native) with the more common native Basswood Tree (Tilia americana).  They are “cousins” and look alike except for their size.  The Basswood Tree has very large leaves compared to the smaller leaves of the Linden Tree.  The leaves of both trees are asymmetrical (the base of the leaf is not even),  a helpful identifying feature.

Linden Tree - (Tilia cordata)

I think the greenish-yellow flowers that are attached to a long bract are so interesting!

A good comparison of the size of a leaf from both trees.

Tila americana       Tilia cordata

We ended our walk at 11:30am, hoping that the nature explorers who joined us, enjoyed the walk and learned something new.  Our next “Second Sunday Nature Walks” will be at the North Jay White Granite Park on August 11, 2019, 9am - 11am.