beeches

Last year's beech leaves are finally off the trees. I don't know the reason, but the American beech holds its leaves until the new ones are about ready to open. The first of these photos is from last Wednesday, and the second today.


Here are a couple of plants I saw on my trip to Georgia, both on Stone Mountain. The spiderwort (Tradescantia hirsuticaulis) was very pretty. The red moss (Diamorpha smallii) is not actually a moss, but grows in mats the way moss does, hence the name. Stone Mountain is essentially a huge lump of igneous rock that sticks up from the surrounding landscape. There is not much soil on it at all, and none at the top, so the plants that live there are fairly specialized - adept at getting nutrients from the rock, and at absorbing water before the rainfall dissipates.

And here are some lovely fiddleheads from my own yard - I'm not sure yet what type of fern they are, but I'll know in a few days when they unfurl.