Plants Walk

I went to Houghton Garden and walked around for around 30 minutes. It was cool and the sun was starting to get low in the sky. I could see the glow from the sun shining through the trees. As I wandered along the various paths among the garden, it was peaceful. It was pretty much empty and it was somewhat refreshing to be outside in a wild space on such a nice fall day. The paths were lined by trees and various plants and covered in bright yellow, orange, and red leaves. I was able to observe multiple different kinds of plants. Towards the front there were some gymnosperms. I was not able to identify exactly what they were but they appeared to be pine trees. I also found trees that looked to be from the angiosperms group. It was hard to tell if they were actually flowering plants because most of the leaves and any fruit or flowers were not really visible due to the time of year. There were also quite a few plants from the polypodiopsida group underneath the blanket of trees that towered above the walkways. I found a few different ferns as well as some others that looked to be from that group. I even found some plants from the bryophyta group. There were some mosses on trees and dead tree stumps. Ultimately, I was able to observe plants from all four of the main groups that were discussed in class (bryophyta, polypodiopsida, gymnosperms, and angiosperms). The bryophyta and polypodiopsida were generally pretty close to the ground, whereas the gymnosperms and angiosperms were typically a lot taller. It was cool to be able to connect what I observed in nature with the material that was discussed in class. I was able to figure out what category of plants the various different ones I observed fit into as well as take note of some differences between them that were mentioned in class. This walk helped me appreciate the diversity among the different types of plants.

Posted on October 19, 2022 11:27 PM by maddielawlor