brigidmulligan's Journal

My friend Lisa and I went to the Houghton Gardens on Monday evening. It had rained all day and was continuing to drizzle. The area was heavy with condensation. The mosses we found were located in spots of particular dampness. In lecture, we learned that mosses typically grow in such locations because they disperse their gametes through water! However, we continuously came along dried out and dying ferns. Ferns also typically disperse their gametes through water, so I doubt these dying plants could effectively reproduce! I can only assume that this is a result of the long, summer drought that Boston recently experienced. As we continued our walk, we found many, many evergreen trees. Some of these trees also had yellowed bristles, again, most likely a result of this summer's drought. As our walk came to a close, we had still not seen many flowers. We had only located small white ones that sprung from the ground. We concluded that this must be because of the time of year.

I accompanied some TAs and classmates today on a nature walk through the Houghton Gardens, which are located a short distance from campus. The weather today was overcast and the atmosphere was heavy with condensation as it has been raining for a couple days. The ground was muddied and the plants were coated in water drops. It was also a little chilly! I noticed that the leaves of some trees had begun to change, signifying that autumn has come. At first, I had difficulty locating fungi as they were small and had similar hues to their surroundings; however, after a while, I began to see little mushrooms everywhere (under plants, growing up trees, and intertwining with leaves.) They appeared mostly as brown toadstools, but one was white and looked fluffy and round, while another was purplish and flat! Yet another appeared on a rock as a green coloring. As I noted their appearances, I wondered what microbes facilitated and sustained their growth. As we discussed in class, microbes are microscopic organisms that can be found almost anywhere and everywhere. I am sure that many microbes lived in and helped regulate the soil that the fungi grew in. Furthermore, I am sure that many microbes live on the fungi themselves!

I took my first Nature Walk today with my friend Lisa. We walked through the wooded area across from the plex! The weather was slightly chilly. This made me wonder when the leaves would begin to change and adopt their autumnal colors. The leaves in this area were still green, but I am assuming that they won't be for long! There were many trees in this area, and even more plants springing from the ground. Most of these plants were leafy and green, however, some of them were colorful berries. This area was wild and reminded me of the woods by my house at home. One thing that saddened me was the cans and trash scattered throughout the terrain! Lisa and I tried to clean up as much as we could!
My observations are linked below!