Maybe a fungus of some sort?
lion’s mane mushroom, Hericium erinaceus
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Pretty cool stuff! Thanks.
Low 80s? I’m starting to wilt.
Your photos are amazing.
As usual.
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Is it edible?
Does it grow in Alabama?
Has @SkovandOfMitaze eaten any of it?
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I showed a picture of it a post or two before it. The pic with mushrooms that mushroom is already there. Lionsmane. I use it for fake tuna when I have the chance.
I also like to use it to blend into broths for soups.
But if it’s not on hand I just use chickpeas. Mist when I have it I add it to the chickpeas in the blender. I’ve once found close to 200 pounds of it in a single day in the delta. Sometimes I go kayaking like 20-30 miles and will tie 1-2 other kayaks to mine a d collect mushrooms and whatever and store them in the other kayaks.
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Whole different kind of grocery shopping!
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I came across a new (to me) plant in the garden of the retired director of the SF botanical garden. The popular name is Brazilian Edelweiss which seems very fitting as the leaves are so soft and fuzzy as in the one sung about in the Sound of Music. Honestly the leaves felt just like a kitten’s ears.
I’ll try sharing it directly but I can load a Flickr version of that didn’t work.
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Found a nice sized eastern mud snake. Had to wrestle them out of the weeds though. Hiking through wetlands and rivers.
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It definitely looks like furry ears lol. I’ve not seen a leaf that pubescent before. Lots of trichomes.
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Me neither. But I only first saw the Edelweiss from that movie in the last couple years. Sure glad I got a picture.
I think the Brazilian one actually has a fuller ‘beard’ while the European model is relatively scruffy.
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They are awesome gardeners.
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Gorgeous snake with impressive knot-making skills! Beautiful colors! And just huge!
And a beautiful wetland home.
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A few months ago, I found this coast mole dead beside a local walking trail. This afternoon, I had time to skin it and prepare a study skin (it is now pinned for drying). The fur is so amazingly thick and, unlike other mammals, it doesn’t have a “grain”.
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Moles are fine animals but also fierce and surprisingly strong.
As students, we tried to get some funding by capturing and selling European moles to a zoo that hoped to establish a small mole population. Trapping the moles alive was not too difficult, what proved to be more difficult was to keep them alive. We separated the moles with dividing walls but did not understand how strong the moles were. When a mole sensed another individual behind the dividing wall, it pushed through the weak points of the structure and killed the neighbour.
Some individuals survived and we sold them. Later, we heard that the sold moles had a similar kind of fate. The zoo had separated the individuals with strong glass walls but somehow one or two fierce moles managed to get into neighbouring compartments and killed the neighbours. When only one or two males were left, the zoo gave up - you cannot establish a zoo population from just a single male.
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This is the lovely poison ivy. That trail goes for seven miles along the road. Nice pedestrian path that’s about 3-4 feet wide and usually 4-6 feet off the road with grass between them. It connects into another path that runs along another road for several miles going through upscale neighborhoods and along wildflower gardens and the bay.
This is the virgina creeper which is often confused for being poison ivy though it has five leaves. It has two forms also. A ground cover and a vine.
One of the grassland trails that shoot off from the pavement trail that goes through a preserve. Has some nice wood walking paths too.
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I have a little $15 clip on “macro” lens that goes on my phone nicely. With it I managed a few moderately successful photos from yesterday evening out in the yard:
Moss. I need to learn them. This is not the one that I can name.
Bleeding Hearts sprouting under dead leaves:
Silver Maple buds have all been fertilized and are now developing fruit:
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