November 05, 2012

I was only out about 20 minutes. I think I took 24 photos and kept 15.

I had to move my car from my parking place at the Park Tower for some kind of exterior inspection. I needed something to do to stay awake in the daytime so I did errands that I had put off, among them, checking to see if what I had read was true, that Draba verna, spring whitlow grass was a winter annual that sprouted in the fall with lower temperatures and moisture among other things.

I knew one confined space on a rock outcrop that was at the edge of south pond when it was full where there was a patch of Draba verna.

I hoped to see the two layer rosette of hairy red leaves that was described in my reading. The patch was thick with new leaves but they were bright green. I saw no characteristics of Draba verna leaves but maybe these newest leaves are not characteristic of leaves that will develop later.

The photos of red leaves are from last spring. The show what I was looking for.

Something less than rain was falling. A fine mist.

I didn’t see the water-drops on the moss till I got the images into the computer.

The first of the images featuring moss with water drops also has what must be a single strand of spider-web with a string of water-drops.

I did see water drops on grass. I attempted photographs.

One grass stem had me all excited, thinking it had a bud on its apex but what seemed to be a swelling must be a water drop facing me so it doesn’t catch light. It just magnifies the tip of the grass.

It’s interesting that the large drops are only on the apex of the leaves of grass. Small drops line the sides.

I don’t remember the sequence of events clearly. I must have decided to check gormanii rock for some reason. Maybe I actually saw the first Lomatium gormanii foliage, salt & pepper, by south pond.

Whatever, I walked over to gormanii rock and found Lomatium gormanii foliage.

I was especially surprised to see the swelling at the base of one stem that seems to be a bud developing. Perhaps it’s only a leaf bud.

And I was surprised to see Ranunculus glaberrimus, sagebrush buttercup foliage.

There was a fine, elaborate spider-web full of raindrops near the Ranunculus glaberrimus foliage.

I attempted the fall foliage on the south pond willows.