OHC: We Like Lichens and Most Mosses!

Dead?...or alive?

It's so nice to see that there really is something alive in the woods during this endlessly gray time of year. I can't remember the last time I posted any pics on this blog that had a blue sky in it. In a Mid-Atlantic winter, we get mid-tones and almost nothing else.

So you can understand our delight to be directed by the Outdoor Hour Challenge to go find the little guys that are doing their work no matter the weather: lichens and mosses.

The March Challenge newsletter informed us that there are three groups of lichens: foliose, fruticose, and crustose. It's really pretty easy to remember what they mean. Foliose looks like foliage, specifically funky lettuce.Crustose are found encrusting rocks  Fruticose looks like fine threads, which doesn't look like the word fruit, but whatever.

Cool lichen facts:

Lichens can delay global warming by consuming significant amounts of CO2, can prevent soil from drying out, help release important nutrients into the soil, and even provide food and, in some cases nesting material, for animals.

I gave an incentive.  For every example  found there would be a prize (Hershey Kisses always work). There would be a bonus if all three types were identified.

Lacking in natural formations in our area, for crustose we needed to expand our definition of rock. The neighbor's cement gatepost had some discoloration. Before, I would have assumed that to be some mold or dirt. But with our new knowledge, we could see that in fact it was the early stage of some crustose  lichen growth. Yeah! One down!

Trusting in the handy, dandy Magi-scope to confirm a lichen sighting

 
Into the woods, we went for more!

Beautiful array of lichens on gneiss

A lone rock peeking from under the dense layer of decomposing leaves revealed  crustose lichen on a more natural host.

Foliose was easy. Our mixed hardwood forest has taken a lot of hits in recent years from severe winds and storms, so there were stacks of fallen timber succumbing to decay. Even up and down dying trunks, we saw ample samples. :-)

(left) Foliose, like lettuce leaves, on branch; (right) fruticose found growing from leaf matter

Only one more to go, fruticose.  The day before I had scouted the area for quarry and nearly stepped on a tiny patch of this, the only one I saw in the entire walk. Maybe ever. I hoped Mei might be eagle-eyed enough to find it herself, but--my bad--I didn't make enough mental note to narrow the search. I did bring home a bit of my personal find so at least she could see it.

On the way back we opened our eyes to the only green in the monochromatic landscape: moss.

Cool Moss info:

Mosses play their part by holding back moisture and preventing erosion, and by being a "pioneer" species, breaking down acidic soil at the base of trees and paving the way for other plants to take root. But I bet you didn't know this:

"The value of Sphagnum [moss] for covering wounds has been known for centuries.  But it was not until the early 20th century that there was widespread commercial production, reaching its peak in the First World War, when some one million Sphagnum dressings per month [emphasis mine] were used by the British forces.  Sphagnum was harvested, cleaned and dried and sent off in bales to factories where it was sewn up in fine muslin and sterilised. " Uses of Mosses and Liverworts

(left) Moss with sporophytes, red spore-baring spikes;  (right top): moss and lichens together; (middle) spores on my finger; (bottom) a bit of sphagnum

 
Paying closer attention than usual, we realized how many different types surrounded us. I gave Mei the camera and she shot these. We took some bits home to draw in our nature journals, but the one with the fascinating spores wasn't happy in the baggie with its mates, and died before we could get around to the illustrations. At least, Mei could see the black spot on my finger where I had brushed against the moss capsules that held the spores.

In all it was a new way for us to enjoy a well-trod path, especially in what we once thought was a dead landscape. 
And yes, she earned her Kisses. 

Got Moss? Got Anything Green? Tell Mother All About It!

Then hop over to The Handbook of Nature Study Blog Carnival to see what other nature nerdies found! 

Outdoor Hour Challenge #1: The Pine Bark Mystery!

The Mystery Bark

  In Outdoor Hour Challenge #1, the idea is just to whet the appetite for nature study. Charlotte Mason didn't want it crammed down the children's throats perhaps because, like all things that are good for them, they will run in the opposite direction as soon as they learn that it's beneficial. No matter that it might even taste good!
   So although we've been doing nature study for a few years, it was good to go back to basics and just let Mei lead the way in finding something of interest to her. She doesn't get all hot and sweaty over nature study, I have to confess (unlike me). So allowing her to call the nature study shots was a sneaky way to get her attention.
    As the Challenge stated, she could find anything she wanted.. She could have chosen some exciting stuff like the pileated woodpecker that I can imitate pretty well much to her amusement, or the bittersweet that was festooning the late-autumn trees. Nope, she chose bark.
    This bark was from a downed tree along the private road we frequent. It runs through a mixed hardwood forest divided by a couple of streams--tributaries to the Patapsco River which in turn flows into the Chesapeake Bay. It's a nice little piece of outdoors that provides many of our nature study opportunities. And a good dog walk.
   As I said, the tree was down and quite deteriorating. At first all we noticed was a trunk, smooth and lying a distance from its source. The short remains of branches stuck straight out in regular intervals. It was a few minutes before we discovered the stump that had once supported the tree. It surprised us to see that it was covered with bark, unlike the smooth surface we had seen on the fallen trunk. We helped ourselves to a sample and headed back, looking all over for a match to identify the tree.

White Pine: gray-green,
long crevices

W-H-I-T-E

We narrowed it down to a pine, but weren't
sure which. There were trees that were clearly white pines. We knew enough about clusters of five long, soft needles to pinpoint that one (ID trick: "WHITE" has five letters, just like the tree has five needles) But the bark didn't match. Nor did the cones. We suspected red pine, but here was the rub. Whenever we found a tree with bark that resembled ours, the tree was DEAD! No needles! Only a rare cone. Ah ha! Now I had her interest as I gave her the responsibility of doing the research at home.

Range Map for Red Pine

   At long last, after consulting a few field guides (hint: it's good to invest in several different guides!) and some internet resources, she concluded that it was indeed a red pine. But why all the pine death? She looked at the map and noted that  red pines don't normally grow this far south. So how did all these trees end up growing here in the first place? Did they sprout from seed cast by a transplanted parent in someone's landscaped yard? Are  they dying from the hotter-than-usual summers we've been having? Or is it something else, like an  infestation or disease? We really haven't solved the mystery
yet, but just having one related to nature made this study all the more "appetizing!"

Mei's  observation page for Challenge #1

   Want to know what makes a pine a PINE? Check out this video "How to Identify Pine Trees." And below that you can learn how to identify four different pines including White and Red! We'll be watching it too. It may solve the mystery of the Mystery Bark!

"How to Identify Pine Trees"

"Pine Tree Identification

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Clouding Around

I am writing this post with my left foot propped up like it has been since the day after Christmas when I was discharged for breaking it at the end of the holiday. That was five days ago, and the house is going to pot. Nothing like taking Mother out of the house-keeping picture. The dog just keeps looking at me, his faithful walker, and wondering why I've abandoned him. Even when Mei does the job herself, he has to be carried over the electric fence line before he will continue, which she is definitely incapable of doing with 35 pounds of dead weight. While Father Robin is on vacation, it works out, but no telling what's ahead after New Year's.
  Our nature walks pivot around exercising the dog (if you want to keep in shape and eliminate excuses for getting outside, get one). But we do have lots of windows to observe from and lots of pretty views outside them. And being winter, there are plenty of changing weather conditions to enjoy from a warm seat with a mug of hot chocolate. Add in some field guides and our nature appreciation needs not take its own holiday.
  The last 24 hours or so have seen dramatic weather changes, from snow to clear to partly cloudy at sunset, providing us with plenty of cloud observation fodder. Mei and I set up our painting supplies on our school table in the sunroom and began painting the snowy scene outside our window.
    Imitating the great idea that Barb shared, Mei set out to collect some of frozen precip to paint with.



She was fascinated with the way the paint interacted with the snow.

Here is my interpretation of the stratus clouds' impact on our backyard. 

And how much the sky changed in a couple of hours

   Mei wants to practice a bit more on watercolor painting.  In the meantime, her science studies on weather have perfectly meshed with the Outdoor Challenges lately. This "cloud detective" page is from the chapter on Weather from her text "Considering God's Creation." by Eagle's Wings.

So, until I'm walking again, we look forward to more window-shopping for clouds.
Thanks to Barb at  Handbook of Nature Study's for sharing this on her Blog Carnival. Click over for more ideas on cloud study

Autumn Rainbow: Fall Flowers, Leaves, Berries, and Seeds

Our recent Outdoor Hour Challenge sent us on a search for fall color, and not just in the expected---leaves---, but in the unexpected like berries, flowers, and other forms of flora. The weather was unseasonably balmy so we could take as much time as we liked at one of our favorite local parks, a man-made lake surrounded by many acres of walking trails deliberately planted with a variety of trees and bushes. While I would prefer more "natural" (wild) settings, this park is easily accessed and well-appointed with necessities, like bathrooms. Sometimes that can make all the difference.

Mei was captivated with photographing the geese and ducks.

    The dog was as bent on collecting scents as we were colors, so an early trip-up almost ended our walk before we began.  However Mei Wei was a trooper and followed her mother's urgings to press on. Not until the jeans were rolled up to apply first aid did I realize how badly the knees were skinned.  Sacrifice in the name of science!
     Our goal was to find every color in the rainbow. Here are our results, some of which Mei photographed herself. (Helpful hint: give the child the camera to keep her mind off her troubles... )

YELLOW

Gingko tree.

Gingko leaves. The only leaf with no apex.

Not sure. A member of the tomato family I think.

A determined dandelion

ORANGE

Bradford Pear leaves and berries. Our dog loves them. Whatever.

Tamarack with cones. A deciduous pine.

Tamarack trail.

Bittersweet, a parasitic plant. But really pretty.

Red Maple

RED

Wild rose hips. High in Vitamin C.

GREEN

Osage oranges.

Osage orange insides. Kinda yucky. DON'T taste like an orange.

 BLUE

The pants, of course. The Shepherd's Purse seeds that are stuck on are brown.

Honeysuckle berries. Poisonous to dogs!

PURPLE

Pokeweed. Also called Deadly Nightshade. Pattern to the color here?

Red clover

Wild blackberry leaves

BROWN

Beech.

Pin oak in pond.

WHITE 

Timothy

New York Asters

And lastly the white notebook page! Not bad for one day's walk!

Note: Oil pastel is better used in larger format work. :-) But it was a new set, so....

Look for other entries in the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival and re-enjoy the last vestiges of fall color.

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Yes, You Can Compare Pears!

Our weekly nature study with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Series 2011 was to compare a pear! Or several! And against apples! Well this was a tasty idea, and worked out fine with the upside-down weather we've been experiencing. No need for a sunny day. We can just pull up to the kitchen counter for this one.

Storm damaged Bradford Pear. The dog loves the fruits.

Truth-be-told, I spent every walk over a couple of weeks looking for SOMEONE who just might have a pear tree in their yard. The closest things were Bradford Pears --those over-planted hybridized freaks that, like so many vain celebrities, are all show but no substance. Bradfords were developed in the lab to be the "perfect" shade tree: compact to be plantable along sidewalks, showy to enhance suburban streets, and fast-growing. What they WEREN'T supposed to do is snap in two after 20 years! Their bio-engineered bodies are top-heavy and one simple storm can send them to the ground. We now know first-hand as we added one of a pair (no pun intended this time) to the mulch pile just last spring.

Anyway, though there were no true pear trees, there were plenty of the edible fruits coming into season at our local grocer. We also picked up several varieties of apples to com-PEAR.  

Following the Autumn Challenge guidelines, we first went to the internet and found some great educational pages on pears. (California is very proud of their pears; a-pear-antly, they make it part of their school curriculum!) We read about their surprisingly interesting history (really? pears?). Here's what the Fact Sheet had to tell us:

• The Bartlett pear was developed in England in the seventeenth
  century by a schoolmaster named John Stair. He
  sold some cuttings to a horticulturist named Williams, who
  further developed the variety and renamed it after himself.
  Early Americans brought pear seedlings across the Atlantic
  to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1812, nurseryman
  Enoch Bartlett discovered the pear variety and, unaware of
  the pear’s true name, distributed it as a “Bartlett.” However, it
  is still known as the “Williams” pear around the world. Bartlett
  cuttings eventually came west when the forty-niners headed
  for the great California Gold Rush and continue to grow in
  California today.

Then we found this site that got our mouths watering as we viewed and read the delicious descriptions of about a dozen varieties, some of which I've never seen in stores.

Our sacrificial apple revealed its star-shaped seed cavities.

Now it was time for the scientific part of our study: observation and DISSECTION! Mei went through the less exciting part of describing the outside of both pear and apple. "Firm," "bruised," "spherical," and "mottled" were some of the better adjectives she came up with. Splitting the pear open she was intrigued with the cavities that held the little "white, tear-dropped" seeds. She also pointed out the flower-shaped arrangement of the cavities and delightedly perceived the same order in the apple.

Inhaling the scent of the "gift of the gods."

Finally the time had come for the tasting party. Like any wine fancier would tell you, you must first inhale the bouquet. She found the pear's fragrance to be "sweet and sower (sic)" compared with the apple's overall sweetness. She did not detect a great difference in flavor, but maybe she just wanted to get on with EATING!
Below is a notebook page Barb included in the Autumn Series Challenge for pears. Now to get some new pear recipes to use on all those varieties I saw in the store this week!

I see some words to add to the spelling list, but she gets an A for effort.

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Milkweed!

I love milkweed. I love what milkweed represents: monarch butterflies, the warmest days of summer, weeks at the lake, time spent at the Conservancy Cabin. So I couldn't wait for us to study milkweed with the More Nature Study with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn 2011 .

Go here for more info on Monarch Caterpillars

We are fortunate to live on the edge of the countryside and had no trouble finding specimens for study. Sometimes we find them sprouting right in our flower beds and then I have to wrestle with my conscience  about treating them as "unwanted weeds" because I know they are the ONLY food for hungry Monarch caterpillars.  The highway department works hard enough at eradicating them along the roadsides; should I  jump on the bandwagon? Especially when Monarchs have taken such a hit in the last few years with some record cold in Mexico that killed off so many during their hibernation? But for our study time they were going to seed along a section of horse fencing owned by our neighbors.

Following the questions in the study guide we looked for insects on them and were rewarded (if finding bugs is your idea of a reward; it was ours) by locating Milkweed Bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus)   all over. They were not sure about being photographed. It took several "sneak attacks" to catch them before they scooted to the other side of a pod or simply dropped off into the weeds. BugGuide.net had these interesting remarks about the bugs:

" Eggs are laid in milkweed seed pods or in crevices between pods. About 30 eggs are laid a day, and about 2,000 over a female's lifespan. In the course of feeding, these bugs accumulate toxins from the milkweed, which can potentially sicken any predators foolish enough to ignore the bright colors which warn of their toxicity."

We then investigated the "milk" of the milkweed. By breaking the weed at any place on its stem, we observed a stream of white juice. The Handbook of Nature Study explains that this milk aids in the healing of the plant wounds.













We experimented with spreading the stuff on our fingers and, sure enough, it dried into a rubbery film that would NOT wash off. A little research on the origins of rubber would be a logical next step. And when tasted, there's no wondering why caterpillars full of it would be noxious to birds!

Mei added drawings of the pod and seed balloon to her notebook page.

 It took a few weeks to find the pods beginning to open. Thankfully the milkweed that we had chosen is along our usual dog-walking route so we could easily keep tabs on it. Here it is a month later. Aren't the silky threads beautiful in the sun?

Inside the pods, we could see the neatly arranged rows of the hundreds of seeds. Hopefully, many of them will find friendly homes to repopulate our roadsides next summer and beckon the Monarchs that love them!