Thursday, March 18, 2010

Roadside Awakening




Travelling from Greenville to Quincy on Highway 89, I saw more signs of spring today. Dandelions, which are very unpopular with some people, were beautiful as they bloomed out of cracks in the rock walls near the Greenville Y. I walked a half mile or so along the roadside and spotted just one filaree blooming. This is also known as stork's bill, and is in the geranium family. While I saw only one blossom, there were hundreds of rosettes of their basal leaves, so in another week or so there will be thousands of filaree blossoms in this area. The mosses are very lush and green, and a variety of fungi are pushing up from the wet ground, and, in the photo above, out of cracks at the ends of fallen logs. More subtle were the many "first leaves" of plants like shooting star, several different violets, and lupines, all of which will be blooming soon. Most species of deciduous trees are budding, and the willows are particularly noticeable in this area. Eagerly anticipating a Table Mountain trip Saturday. Feels like cheating; instead of waiting for spring, we drive to it!

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