A Hint of Green

Down by the Peeper Pond, the first hints of new greenness this spring.  In the background, our evergreen pines.

These little ones are the Ground Pine or Ground Cedar wiggling out from under the matted dry ferns from last year. They only send up one new shoot per year, and previous years' shoots are evergreen.

They are, of course, not true pines or cedars or any type of tree.  They are a type of Club Moss with extensive underground rhizomes.  It is likely that all the shoots you see in this picture are actually one plant all connected underground.  This makes them sensitive to repeated foot traffic.  Both in the forest and open fields, MorningStar has many large areas completely covered in their green beauty!

Ground Pine (Lycopodium obscurum)

They are so brilliant green against the brownness in spring and so perfectly formed that they just make me smile.

If you'd like to learn more, here's a link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycopodium_obscurum