Nature is Fun: Lichens, Mosses, and Ferns

Last week, a fellow Virginia Master Naturalist and I held an after-school program on nature at Pearisburg Public Library.  Our emphasis for this November 29 workshop was on what you can find that is green or blooming in the woods in the winter.  The children attending ranged in age from 6-12.

 We had collected lichens, mosses, Virginia Pine, Witch Hazel flowers, and Christmas Fern.  When I talked about lichens, I asked the kids to pick out the different types on one small log.  I used a handout on lichens and Christmas Fern which I made for the program:

 Lichens 

“A lichen, or lichenized fungus, is actually two organisms functioning as a single, stable unit. Lichens comprise a fungus living in a symbiotic relationship with an alga or cyanobacterium (or both in some instances). There are about 17,000 species of lichen worldwide.”  (https://www.livescience.com/55008-lichens.html)

There are several types of lichens:  leafy, cup-like, beard-like, and crusty (usually on rocks).  In general, you want to leave the lichens.  Lichens absorb pollutants so scientists can learn about air pollution by analyzing lichens. 

Christmas Fern

Polystichum acrostichoides

The Christmas Fern stays green all winter, unlike other ferns.   Winter snows will flatten the fronds though.  Fiddleheads or the coiled fronds appear in early spring while the rest of the previous year’s growth browns and decays.

The blade of the fern is lance-shaped with pinnae (look like leaves) all along.  On fertile pinnae, sori (brown areas on underside) are on the upper part of the blade.  These release microscopic spores into the air which is how a fern reproduces.  

Christmas Ferns grow in the woods and are widespread because they tolerate both dry and wet soils.  The range of the Christmas Fern is the eastern United States, from the south all the way to Canada and west to Missouri.  Because it is bright green in December, the Christmas Fern historically has been used in holiday decorations. 

The children glued leaves to color paper.  Then, they all did colored pencil drawings which I don't have any photos of unfortunately.  All of the children seem to have good drawing skills for their ages.

After I arrived home, I put the Christmas Fern and Virginia Pine in a vase.  The ferns only lasted a couple of days while the pine is going strong.

We plan to continue the programs next year in January since there does seem to be interest for them.

Witch-Hazel and Honey Bees

I awoke to the sounds of gunshots because today is the first day of deer firearms season which lasts for two weeks (except Sunday--hurray for the religious). I am afraid to go out in the woods to take photos even with wearing a blaze orange vest and hat. Forget about taking the dog out for a walk as Kookie only has the blaze orange collar. She looks just like a deer running in the woods.

So instead of walking, I am sitting here at the computer doing this post on a gorgeous sunny warm day.




Yesterday, I noticed my honey bees were out and about bringing in water and pollen. That's not surprising since the weather has been nice and warm (70 degrees most of the week). But where were they getting the pollen? The goldenrod and wingstem are long past flowering--the same for the asters.





I did notice this solitary dandelion blooming but that was probably not the source.


Then, I spotted the witch-hazel tree that was in full bloom. Sure enough, there were honey bees all over it. The witch-hazel is special that way--always blooming in November, a welcome respite from all the brown.


This close up of the flowers was posted on my blog a couple of years ago with the following text:

The Witch-hazel is an understory tree that is fairly common in our woods and a favorite of the Wood Thrush bird for their nests. The leaves are aromatic and can be used to make astringent lotions. Some old timers use the forked branch of the Witch-hazel branch to detect underground water.

This was an earlier photo of the beehive about a week before. The entrance reducer is pushed out so that the bees were able to come and go as they please. I swear I saw them pushing the entrance reducer out themselves! Anyway, the reducer is used to keep predators out but especially mice which will come in and build a nest making a mess. I made my own from 1 x 1 trim. I put 4 holes in it since I knew they wanted more than the typical small hole.

Thoughts on Hive Winter Preparation

This year I left a lot more honey on the hive, (2-1/2 medium boxes). It seemed I had twice the number of bees going into the winter as last year so it made sense to me. The bottom one had brood and lots of pollen storage. I figure the winter cluster can gradually move up the hive through the honey which also should help insulate against the cold.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't lose the bees this winter like I did last year. But one thing I noticed about these bees is that they seem a lot healthier than last year's bees. I kept doing varroa mite checks all summer and did not see any until the very last time when I counted about 5 (used powdered sugar treatment to check). Last year, I counted over a hundred on last check. Nevertheless, I plan on leaving the mite board out of the screened bottom board to allow any mites to fall off to the ground and to allow plenty of ventilation. Last year, I got so concerned about the cold that I left the board in. Maybe the mites got to them or the lack of ventilation made them susceptible to nosema (a fungal infection).

Unknown Shrub, Witch-hazel

Can you identify this shrub for me?

For years, I have admired this nicely formed shrub that grows at the edge of the woods and pastures. It receives only partial sun and typically is 2-3 feet tall.


Photo: November 5, 2008

The leaves turn a pretty red-orange and have an interesting shape.



Photo: November 5, 2008

On another shrub, the leaves were almost gone so the berries were more prominent. The red berries are very similar to spicebush but are in these drooping clusters. Birds will eat these berries before those of the spicebush. When I checked today, the berries and leaves were gone.

Can you identify this shrub?


Photo: November 5, 2008

As I walked back up our road, I noticed that the Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) tree was blooming. The yellow flowers are not very conspicuous as you can see in this photo.




Photo: November 12, 2008


The Witch-hazel is an understory tree that is fairly common in our woods and a favorite of the Wood Thrush bird for their nests. The leaves are aromatic and can be used to make astringent lotions. Some old timers use the forked branch of the Witch-hazel branch to detect underground water.