On
a recent drive through the mountains, I ran across a lovely but common purple-globe
clover. While, normally, clover tends to
grow in patches or dense clusters, I saw but a single globe standing bright and
tall against the otherwise green understory.
A
show-stopper, if you will.
The
clover blossom was optimistic enough, I captured an image and have shared that
here today.
I
also chanced upon three woodland pinedrops stalks emerging asparagus-style in the
pine forest. The shoots stood about a
foot tall and were nearly an inch in diameter at the base.
According
to a U.S. Forest Service webpage: “Pinedrops is a
member of the Indian-pipe family (Monotropaceae). Pinedrops is a root parasite,
depending on its association with a mycorrhizal fungus that is also associated
with a pine tree. Pinedrops produces very little chlorophyll and is therefore
not green in color and does not conduct photosynthesis.”
I
have posted photos of the emerging pinedrops.
I have also posted a photograph of a more mature pinedrops from a series
I captured in 2007. At full maturity,
pinedrops are easily capable of reaching three feet in height.
Purple-Globe
Clover
Pinedrops
—Mitchell Hegman
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