Texture in the Coast Range

Devil's Club (Oplopanax horridus) stem with leaf scar.

Some kind of moss. The little orange capsules on the stalks will open to release spores.

More moss, on a log.

Moss, lichen, and roots on a rotting log near water.

Top to bottom, trees at a glance: Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), a true Fir (Abies sp.), and Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla).

Blueberry Leaves

Why do leaves turn colors before dropping off in the fall? These are blueberry leaves (genus Vaccinium) . They're red where they received sun, but yellow where they were covered by another leaf.

Maybe the red is a pigment that helps with photosynthesis, but also works as a sunscreen. Perhaps the green pigments are able to be reabsorbed by the plant, but the reds aren't. But if during the summer both pigments are in the leaf, how does the green cover up the red? Perhaps the green changes to red in the fall.

I wonder what they looked like during the summer.

Fava Beans

Fava beans, flourishing in the fall, killed with the first hard frost.