Mosquito fern; Azolla caroliniana
This plant is not quite so creepy looking when you see it up close!
Maude Moore's Cave is located along the River Trail boardwalk. The cave has bat bars to keep people from entering the cave and disturbing the bats. Disturbing hibernating bats can cause them to use up precious stored fat and they can starve to death. One bat can eat up to 3000 mosquitoes in one night in the summer, they can live up to 30 years, so bats are great little furry friends!
Ijams (pronounced: eye-ams) Nature Center is a beautiful little jewel of a park found along the Tennessee River in South Knoxville. It is located on Island Home Avenue. To get there from downtown Knoxville go on Sevier Ave. to Island Home Ave. You'll find the park on the left, just past Tennessee School for the Deaf.
The River Trail has a wooden boardwalk built along a rock cliff. This is a good place to look for water birds such as Great Blue Herons. Unfortunately, the Island Home airport is located just across the river, so the sound of small private aircraft landing and taking off is a common sound as you hike this trail (but don't let that discourage you from enjoying the trail).