After working in the greenhouses all day, I took a much needed excursion to the Maple Flat Ponds, which are located at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Stuart's Draft VA. While the area boasts many exciting trails through the forest, the one that has taken my heart is Maple Flat Ponds. I honestly believe that one could walk this trail a thousand times and still find something new and exciting to see. As the Summer is winding down to an end, the forest is still full of life, while there may not be many blooming wildflowers, the moss here seems to be in full swing.
I enjoy this trail for several reasons; the terrain is flat, so there's no dreading that uphill climb, it is relatively untraveled allowing for personal time to connect with nature, and it has a few ponds, mostly filled with Largemouth Bass and Bluegill. I consider myself an avid freshwater fisherman, so it's appreciated when I can look at moss and do a little fishing in the same place.
One of the things that still amazes me is the sheer amount of species diversity in mosses. Bryophytes are the second most diverse family in the kingdom Plantae with around 17,000 different species, falling only behind angiosperms, which are more commonly known as flowering plants. Even within five square feet, you can have multiple different species of moss. I've found that the tricky part is correctly being able to tell what kind of moss it is. I find it a hassle to bring my stage microscope with me out in the woods, so I've settled on bringing a USB microscope, which allows me to have a better chance at correctly identifying the species. It is lightweight, portable, and connects to my cell phone, so it really is a handy tool to have on deck. Another tool I always have at arms reach is my copy of Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians (McKnight, Rohrer, Ward, and Perdrizet, 2013). These combined give me a hope at coming up with the right species.
As I ventured further along the trail I arrived at my first stop, a shallow pond with a dense canopy above, making it the perfect environment for hunting mosses.
Unfortunately for me, after spending a few minutes here it started to rain (I suppose this is what I get for not checking the weather before going out). However, I was determined to keep exploring, and hoped that the rain would eventually let off. While the rain is not so much fun to walk through, I enjoyed seeing some of the local fauna spring to life. Nearly every puddle I walked past had a surprising amount of froglets splashing around inside of it, barely larger than a US Quarter. Seeing them enjoying the puddles reminded me of when I was younger, always wanting to play around in the puddles after a hard Summer rain.
These were not the only friends I made along the way, as I was looking under logs and fallen trees for moss, I came across an Eastern Red-Spotted Newt, or Notophthalmus viridescens. I didn't want to disturb them, so I quickly snapped a picture and went along my merry way. This is truly one of my favorite things about being out on a trail. I enjoy going out in search of one thing, and finding a plethora of interesting things along the way.
I continued down the trail, and came across a clearing within the woods. However, this was no ordinary clearing, because when I opened Google Earth, it showed me standing right in the middle of a large pond! I was not, in fact, in the middle of a large pond. Unfortunately the pond has drained down to a small pool of water at the northern side of the clearing. This has caused the inhabitants to either be evicted or packed like sardines in this pool. The clearing is still relatively new, with not much flora growing there, mostly just grasses and weeds, but the ground is still saturated with water, leaving tracks of the animals who visited the clearing. I saw many tracks in the soil, including deer, foxes, and racoons. Along the banks of this dehydrated pond, my attention was drawn to a bright red flower. As I drew closer, I was elated to see that it was Lobelia Cardinalis, or a Cardinal Flower. The Cardinal Flower is a native perennial to Virginia, blooming in late Summer. (Fun Fact, it was not named for it's resemblance to the Virginia State Bird the Cardinal, but for the bright red color of a Roman Catholic cardinals attire.) To me, the blooms look like little birds.
I continued on my way to my final destination, which was a small, deep pond that I enjoy fishing in. I had brought my travel sized fishing pole along with me, so I cast my line in the water for a bit, but was unsuccessful in my quest to catch a fish. I was not discouraged however, as My attention was drawn to the bright green moss next to where I was sitting.
To my delight, this was Sphagnum Palustre, or Blunt Leaved Peat Moss. This moss grows in swampy forests and at the margins of fens, bogs, and ponds. Sphagnum Palustre is a peat moss, which is a type of moss that grows upright and has almost a mop type of look. These mosses are extremely absorptive, with some species being able to hold up to 17 times their dry weight in water. This is most likely one of the larger species of moss I have encountered, with a the branches being around 15cm tall! Peat mosses are harvested for their use in soil mixes, as well as used as the growing medium for quite a few houseplants. As you can imagine, the more water the medium holds, the less watering you have to do yourself.
At last, I headed back to my car, happy with my findings in the woods today, my camera roll filled yet again with countless pictures of plants, critters, and the scenery. It is an unremarkable feeling to see so many amazing things, and an even better feeling to know what you're looking at. I feel as though a lot of the time, we are stuck looking at screens and caught up with the daily motion of our lives, so much so that we forget that there is a whole different world out there. Far away from the hustle and bustle of traffic, seemingly endless advertisements, and disconnectedness we go through every single day. Let this be your reminder to take a break from all that, take in your surroundings, and most importantly, explore.
-Alex Heller