I am waiting - maybe even patiently - for spring.
The forest is just waiting to burst into spring. The birds already believe it to be here, and I have seen a stray silver maple or two that has let loose its buds. In general there is some disagreement amongst nature about when spring does come.
The forest is a very ordered place, as Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Forests makes clear. One can think of the forest as made of many layers. The topmost layer is the canopy defined by "the crowns of the tallest trees"1. Below this, the understory defined by smaller tree species such as sassafras and dogwood. Continuing downward, note the shrub layer made-up of plants such as laurels and viburnums.
"The shrub layers tops an herb layer of ferns and wildflowers. This layer is particularly evident in spring, when many wildflower species ... are in bloom."2
Finally, the litter layer rests atop the soil. It is composed decomposing leaves and wood.
The forest blooms from the ground upwards: first the herbs, then shrubs, then understory and canopy. Before even the herbs awaken, though, the soil must have been prepared. A poem on the subject:
1,2Kircher, John & Morrison, Gordon. A Field Guide to Eastern Forests. qtd. from page 9.
The forest is a very ordered place, as Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Forests makes clear. One can think of the forest as made of many layers. The topmost layer is the canopy defined by "the crowns of the tallest trees"1. Below this, the understory defined by smaller tree species such as sassafras and dogwood. Continuing downward, note the shrub layer made-up of plants such as laurels and viburnums.
"The shrub layers tops an herb layer of ferns and wildflowers. This layer is particularly evident in spring, when many wildflower species ... are in bloom."2
Finally, the litter layer rests atop the soil. It is composed decomposing leaves and wood.
The forest blooms from the ground upwards: first the herbs, then shrubs, then understory and canopy. Before even the herbs awaken, though, the soil must have been prepared. A poem on the subject:
Sun warms the air.
Clouds precipitate rain.
Rain thaws the earth.
Rain awakens seeds, roots.
Clouds precipitate rain.
Rain thaws the earth.
Rain awakens seeds, roots.
1,2Kircher, John & Morrison, Gordon. A Field Guide to Eastern Forests. qtd. from page 9.
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