So, I have some bad news. I packed the wrong USB-cord, so I won't be able to include pictures in my updates. Don't worry though, I'm taking plenty!
Today, we started off from Durham at 8 AM and headed up US-15 from Oxford. The name of the game was: find some cemeteries! I admit, it is a little odd to be walking around a cemetery looking for moss, but they do seem to have a great assortment of mosses. Many cemeteries don't have very high grass, and near the headstones or on clear dirt are great places to find moss growing. I usually stuck to the outskirts of the cemeteries, letting Piers wander around among the graves. The only collection I made all day from one was next to a headstone marked only with a name; I assumed that it was just a placeholder.
We stopped along the John H. Kerr Reservoir near the border of North Carolina and Virginia. There was a state park on the NC side, and it looked really promising. Funaria is a first-colonizer of recently burned-over soils, and campgrounds are usually a good bet. This campground featured a bunch of 10'x10' squares populated by a single table (wooden sitting platforms and a stone top), along with a circular metal fire pit. Some of the squares had obviously not been populated for some time, as they had moss growing even on top of the stone table! However, there was no Funaria.
We moved on north, to the Occoneechee State Park, because Piers had previously collected Funaria flavicans near a parking lot. Rather than pay $4 for a day pass, we convinced the ranger that we just need to get a GPS point, and so we couldn't stay long. Sure enough, we parked next to the entrance to the aptly named "Mossy Creek Trail," and in the grass next to the gravelly lot there were four small patches of F. flavicans! "Well, you can't call the trip a bust anymore," said Piers, unfortunately foreshadowing the rest of the day.
We stopped at many forest trails and cemeteries on our way north through Virginia, including the one I mentioned earlier, where I collected Bryum argenteum, at a cemetery near Sheppards, Virginia. After a few more sites (unsuccessful for Funaria but Piers collected a lot), we stopped for lunch in Farmville, VA. I didn't see many farms, and I must admit I was feeling a bit frustrated at this point. I said to Piers, "We're sure this thing is a weed, right?" Of course, it is, but Piers responded equally sardonically, "well, that's the danger of being a specialist... generalists always find what they're looking for!"
North of Farmville we came across some railroad tracks and a lumber yard a few miles north, near the town of Dillwyn. I turned in to check it out, intending to look mostly at the railroad tracks. Driving closer to a large building we noticed a man sitting in a forklift staring at us, so we slowly backed out towards the main road. Before we went to check out the RR tracks, I looked at a grassy area that led up this large ramp, at the end of which was an odd looking contraption that probably filled passing trains with sand, with a dispenser dangling precariously over the tracks. This will probably make more sense when I have a picture. Anyway, beneath my feet were clearly stems of Funaria! I collected many patches of the moss up the ramp, over about 200 feet. It was exciting, and I wanted to find more quickly, but it was getting late and we had a lot of miles to cover before spending the night at Sam's in Bethesda.
We only stopped once more, at another cemetary in Fluvall County, VA, where I collected an interesting moss, Pleuridium. It occurs on clay just like Funaria flavicans often does, but rather than having sporophytes with a long seta (the stalk), Pleuridium has barely any seta at all. The result is that the capsules, which release the spores for the next generation, are immersed, and they can't go all that far. It would be interesting to study the population dynamics of this species. But, another thesis for another lifetime, I guess.
We got in at Sam's at 9 PM, and happily chowed down on some chicken parm subs, due to a rare fit of initiative in picking a place to eat without three hours dicussion.... Overall a pretty successful first day, since I don't want to burn out collecting tons of stuff early on! Tomorrow's plan: make our way back to US-15, and take that to Gettysburg and Harrisburg, before turning east towards the coal-smelting town of Palmerton, and a final resting place near Scranton, PA.
Miles Traveled: 315
Funaria Populations: 2
Today, we started off from Durham at 8 AM and headed up US-15 from Oxford. The name of the game was: find some cemeteries! I admit, it is a little odd to be walking around a cemetery looking for moss, but they do seem to have a great assortment of mosses. Many cemeteries don't have very high grass, and near the headstones or on clear dirt are great places to find moss growing. I usually stuck to the outskirts of the cemeteries, letting Piers wander around among the graves. The only collection I made all day from one was next to a headstone marked only with a name; I assumed that it was just a placeholder.
We stopped along the John H. Kerr Reservoir near the border of North Carolina and Virginia. There was a state park on the NC side, and it looked really promising. Funaria is a first-colonizer of recently burned-over soils, and campgrounds are usually a good bet. This campground featured a bunch of 10'x10' squares populated by a single table (wooden sitting platforms and a stone top), along with a circular metal fire pit. Some of the squares had obviously not been populated for some time, as they had moss growing even on top of the stone table! However, there was no Funaria.
We moved on north, to the Occoneechee State Park, because Piers had previously collected Funaria flavicans near a parking lot. Rather than pay $4 for a day pass, we convinced the ranger that we just need to get a GPS point, and so we couldn't stay long. Sure enough, we parked next to the entrance to the aptly named "Mossy Creek Trail," and in the grass next to the gravelly lot there were four small patches of F. flavicans! "Well, you can't call the trip a bust anymore," said Piers, unfortunately foreshadowing the rest of the day.
We stopped at many forest trails and cemeteries on our way north through Virginia, including the one I mentioned earlier, where I collected Bryum argenteum, at a cemetery near Sheppards, Virginia. After a few more sites (unsuccessful for Funaria but Piers collected a lot), we stopped for lunch in Farmville, VA. I didn't see many farms, and I must admit I was feeling a bit frustrated at this point. I said to Piers, "We're sure this thing is a weed, right?" Of course, it is, but Piers responded equally sardonically, "well, that's the danger of being a specialist... generalists always find what they're looking for!"
North of Farmville we came across some railroad tracks and a lumber yard a few miles north, near the town of Dillwyn. I turned in to check it out, intending to look mostly at the railroad tracks. Driving closer to a large building we noticed a man sitting in a forklift staring at us, so we slowly backed out towards the main road. Before we went to check out the RR tracks, I looked at a grassy area that led up this large ramp, at the end of which was an odd looking contraption that probably filled passing trains with sand, with a dispenser dangling precariously over the tracks. This will probably make more sense when I have a picture. Anyway, beneath my feet were clearly stems of Funaria! I collected many patches of the moss up the ramp, over about 200 feet. It was exciting, and I wanted to find more quickly, but it was getting late and we had a lot of miles to cover before spending the night at Sam's in Bethesda.
We only stopped once more, at another cemetary in Fluvall County, VA, where I collected an interesting moss, Pleuridium. It occurs on clay just like Funaria flavicans often does, but rather than having sporophytes with a long seta (the stalk), Pleuridium has barely any seta at all. The result is that the capsules, which release the spores for the next generation, are immersed, and they can't go all that far. It would be interesting to study the population dynamics of this species. But, another thesis for another lifetime, I guess.
We got in at Sam's at 9 PM, and happily chowed down on some chicken parm subs, due to a rare fit of initiative in picking a place to eat without three hours dicussion.... Overall a pretty successful first day, since I don't want to burn out collecting tons of stuff early on! Tomorrow's plan: make our way back to US-15, and take that to Gettysburg and Harrisburg, before turning east towards the coal-smelting town of Palmerton, and a final resting place near Scranton, PA.
Miles Traveled: 315
Funaria Populations: 2
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