Second iNaturalist Nature Walk - Boston College BIOL2040 Ecology & Evolution

I went to Chestnut Hill Reservation, a wooded hill much smaller than Edmands Park, after work. The weather was hot (80°F) and humid but overall clear. I found some buttercups (Angiosperms: Ranunculus sp.) at the entrance to start, and soon found myself reaching and squatting to take pictures of plants that I had never paid attention to before. I was able to find some smoothcap moss and tree-skirt moss (Bryophyta) at and around the base of oak trees, an eastern white pine (Gymnosperms: Pinus strobus) and a juniper bush (Gymnosperm: Juniperus sp.), and many Angiosperms like burdocks, brambles, garlic mustards, buckthorns, and poison ivy.

I was disappointed that I couldn't find any ferns (Polypodiophyta), but the reservation, sitting on a hill, seemed much drier than I realized, perhaps too dry to support the growth of fern gametophytes. However, I was able to see that mosses do have male and female gametophytes—the male gametophytes have star-shaped heads, while the females have more conventional, spiky heads. After rainfall, I might be able to spot some moss sporophytes. Finally, I was able to appreciate the diversity of Angiosperms. I spotted a bramble bush with white flowers and dense spikes, some low-growing Persicaria with dense, purple dots as flowers, and, of course, buttercups, of which the flower shape apparently acts as a condenser for sunlight and warms up any visiting pollinators.

Publicado el junio 17, 2023 02:28 MAÑANA por sengutengu