Nature Strollers

The mission of the Nature Strollers is to support parents and grandparents in their role as primary interpreters of nature for their families; to provide opportunities for families to enjoy unstructured time outdoors; to familiarize families with local trails, refuges, sanctuaries and preserves; and to develop networks among families with a common interest in nature.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Waterfalls and Wildflowers

Happy Hepatica!
This little wildflower is so lovely it should have its own holiday! The Nature Strollers sure were delighted by the color and texture of this plant. Hepaticas open their flowers only on sunny days when pollinating insects are active. They protect themselves from cold April temperatures with fuzzy stems. Their seeds also sport an interesting adaptation. The tip contains a tasty packet of nutrition, beloved by ants, who carry it to their nests, eat the tip and discard the rest of the seed in their trash heap, where the seed happily germinates. In fact, ants are excellent dispersers of many of our spring wildflower seeds.
As you can see hepatica also come in white, and I think they come in pink too. You can really see the fuzzy stems on this one.
Hepaticas sport unusually shaped leaves, said to resemble the shape of the human liver. Other wildflowers we encountered on this trip were trout-lily and bloodroot.
Of course there's also the waterfall.

From the tiny to the tall, nature on the Appalachian Trail takes many gracious forms. These falls are a ten to fifteen minute walk (you will have to complete a number of stream crossings to get there) from the parking area. I'd estimate they are twenty-five feet tall. This is a fabulous place to take older children. The sound and excitement of falling water as well as the stony streambed make for hours of entertainment.

The Streambottom Boys

Walking over slippery rocks. Tossing pebbles. Turning over stones. Launching sticks. All in a days work for these boys. Among the interesting finds: mayfly larva and netspinning caddisfly larva clinging to the bottom of rocks in the streambed, a rock chock-full of mollusk fossils, a quartz crystal; and stones with holes all over that look like moonrocks. Rest assured, everyone went home soaked from head to toe.