Morels 2, 2017

The weather in South-Western Ontario has been  quite unpleasant - cold with rain and quite strong winds. Wednesday was nice, sunny and pleasant, but the forecast is gloomy, even mentioning flurries on Sunday. I took advantage of the beautiful Wednesday afternoon and tried again for morels.  This time I visited one of my spots in the Cambridge area, some 45 km from my home.

I did manage to pick enough for a decent meal.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="41" gal_title="Morels_2_2017"]

I am still finding a number of cup fungi. Some of them are quite spectacular.

[caption id="attachment_3435" align="alignnone" width="663"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoscypha_dudleyi Sarcoscypha dudleyi[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3434" align="alignnone" width="663"] Peziza repanda?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3436" align="alignnone" width="663"] Peziza repanda?[/caption]

The trillium is out now and can be found in a great spectrum of colours and sizes. The most common trillium is still white, but a great number range from some pink shades, even to dark purple.




Smaller flowers are all over the forest floor. Their beauty is extraordinary; they just beg for a closer look. My favorite is the Trout Lily.  The bulb of this plant is a very pleasant and refreshing trail side nibble. They are quite deep and not easy to get to, but worth the effort.

[caption id="attachment_3443" align="alignnone" width="663"] Trout Lily[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3444" align="alignnone" width="663"] Violet[/caption]

Fiddleheads are going strong and it is easy to pick several handfuls for a meal. One can easily over-harvest fiddleheads and stunt their growth and development. The golden rule is to harvest only strong and healthy plants, taking only one or two shoots.



 

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