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<\/a>The low stone wall marks the foundation of a sugar camp that once stood on this site.<\/p><\/div>\n
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At least they appear that way\u00a0at first glance. But a closer look reveals all sorts of surprises.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The patch of orange-red fungi stopped me in my tracks. I can’t identify them. Can you?<\/p><\/div>\n
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This year, thanks to the unseasonably warm temperatures we have experienced over the last few\u00a0months, the woods are full of colour. These colours aren’t all as big and showy as the patch of fungi pictured above. Few elicit the ooh’s and aah’s of autumn but the colours are there nonetheless, waiting to be noticed.<\/p>\n
Most prominent is green.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The land in this part of the woods at Glen Villa is very fragile. As trees die and their roots no longer hold the soil in place, sections of the stream bank collapse into the water.<\/p><\/div>\n
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On either bank of the stream that runs through part of Glen Villa’s woods, the woods are like\u00a0a rain forest in some warmer and wetter\u00a0part of the world. Rutted tracks through the woods which normally at this season are bone dry are now ankle deep in\u00a0water. The stream is running almost as rapidly as it does in the springtime, when melting\u00a0snow raises water levels to the top of the bank.\u00a0And this despite the fact that, for weeks, we’ve had almost no rain at all.<\/p>\n
I’m told that the watery ground is the result of the earth\u00a0freezing — as it did briefly a few weeks ago — and thawing, and that the short cycle between these two extremes explains the amount of surface\u00a0water. \u00a0This may be the case. But whatever the explanation, the extra moisture has created\u00a0a landscape clothed in\u00a0shades of green that range from the dark green\u00a0of Christmas ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides)\u00a0<\/em>to the pale green of emerging spring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How many shades of green can you name? \u00a0Emerald, sage, pea, forest, hunter …<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Moss is the major source of green. This isn’t surprising since there are between 9,500 and 22,000 different species of moss, depending on the source you consult. I haven’t attempted\u00a0to count how many\u00a0types of moss grow in our woods; I haven’t tried \u00a0to identify any of them by name. But based on the number of shades of green and the differences in textures that are obvious after even a cursory glance, there may\u00a0be several hundred or more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Several types of moss can be distinguished in this photo. I like the shaggy one on the right — it reminds me\u00a0of a moss-green shag rug I owned many years ago. (And yes, perhaps I should be too embarrassed to admit I once owned a shag rug. But I’m not.)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n I don’t know if the plant below is a moss or if it is more properly placed in some other botanical category.\u00a0What fascinates me is how different it is from other mosses that are growing nearby.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Is this a moss?<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n It doesn’t look at all like this two-toned moss, for instance…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This muti-coloured moss looks feathery.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n or like this one, that reminds me of the brush I\u00a0used to wash\u00a0dried-up milk from the bottom of baby bottles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Are the white tips a sign of death or of new life?<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Different types and colours of moss create different atmospheres. The glow-in-the-dark moss that covers part of the tree trunk below makes me wonder if it is radio-active.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Does the V shape of the fallen branch suggest anything to you? \u00a0I find it spooky, particularly in contrast to the blue-grey tree trunks that surround it.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n A soft cushiony moss makes me want to stretch out for a nap.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I might want to lie down on this moss carpet but I can hear my mother warning\u00a0me\u00a0it would be much too damp.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n A multi-coloured moss makes me question\u00a0why the colours vary so strikingly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n More shades of green: olive, jade, mint, chartreuse, fern — and moss, of course. But which moss?<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Along with the varieties of mosses are lichen and fungi of all sorts. They add to the richness of the scene, bringing different colours and different textures into view. \u00a0These colourful fungi covering the length of a fallen tree trunk appear\u00a0hard and brittle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I like these colourful scallops and photograph them almost every time I pass by.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n These yellow growths\u00a0look soft and slightly dangerous, like puffy\u00a0mushroom\u00a0clouds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n These mushrooms may look tasty but I’m not serving them for dinner, tonight or any other time.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Throughout the forest, scenes of rare beauty present themselves. \u00a0Some shout so loudly they\u00a0can’t be missed…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Can anyone identify this growth? Whatever it is, the shades of red and orange certainly stand out against moss-green moss.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Others are more subtle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>