When the winter gives way to a new spring and water from higher elevations finds its way down the rocky slopes, a new lease of life extends to those plants that have waited patiently for the new season. |
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Ferns, along with other plants that occupy the rock face, find and thrive in little cracks and crevices that appear too small to sustain any form of plant life. |
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Tinker's Penny, Hypericum anagalloides, is a North American species of St. John's Wort, a group of flowering plants. Thriving in moist areas in the early spring, it will eventually bare small golden yellow flowers. |
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On the sides of rocks and in the splash of waterfalls, new growth appears on many plants that are often overlooked such as mosses, liverworts and ferns. Whitish Feather Moss, Brachythecium albicans, is a moss that thrives in this type of habitat. |
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These mosses vary greatly in these wet conditions, from those that creep over the rock face to those that grow in the bogs that the water creates. One of those that hugs the rocks is Pinnatifid
Homalothecium Moss, Homalothecium Pinnatifidum, shown here in the dampness that gives it life. |
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Glossy Red Bryum Moss, Bryum miniatum, enjoys those seepage spots in the low areas of rock surfaces where the water gathers and stays a while unable to filter through quickly. |
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| In the deeper waters of these seepage places Philonotis Moss, Philonotis capillaris, is one of the mosses that can be found. |
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This is Swamp Moss, Philonotis fontana, showing its male flowers. It is another of the many mosses that can tolerate water around it. |
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Common Haircap Moss, Polytrichum commune, with the female on the left and the male on the right, is another miniature beauty.
Both sexes share the water areas along stream banks and in wetlands. |
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One of the more common mosses is the yellow-green Narrowleaf Peatmoss, Sphagnum angustifolium.
It covers small areas in loose mats in fens and bogs.
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| This is a liverwort Pellia sp, that also enjoys the water.
This plant is frequently found on moist rocks and on wet stream banks in shady areas. |
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