Image Number | Image (Click to Enlarge) | Caption | Image Viewed |
1 |
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Moss and a mushroom
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9262 |
2 |
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Moss
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7742 |
3 |
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Spore caps of moss.
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5273 |
4 |
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Moss Spore caps
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7091 |
5 |
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Moss spore caps
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4561 |
6 |
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moss
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4948 |
7 |
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moss
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4511 |
8 |
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Liverworts are an ancient, non-flowering plant that grow in damp environments, such as on wet rocks or decaying, damp logs. They reproduce by means of eggs and sperm produced by the gametophytes
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7606 |
9 |
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This Close-up of Liverwort shows the pores in the surface of the thallus.
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4472 |
10 |
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I found these Marchantia Liverworts growing on the base of a damp cliff at Rock Island State Park. The little stalked, umbrella-shaped structures are the male reproductive organs of these primative plants. The small cup-shaped structures are called gemma cups, they contain small pieces of plant tissue that can be removed by raindrops to generate new liverworts.
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5074 |
11 |
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"Running Ground Cedar" Lycopodium - a club moss
Lycopodium digitatum
This plant grew to tree-size millions of years before the dinosuars lived. The fossils of Lycopodium can be found in the rocks in the coal mines on the Cumberland Plateau. The light brown spore cases produce massive amounts of spores in the fall. Due to their high flammability, photographers once used them as flash powder for late 19th early 20th century cameras. Because it is an evergreen plant, Early settlers collected and sold the vine to make festive Christmas decorations. The genus name means "wolf's foot", somebody had a really weird imagination on that one! The next photo shows a close relative, the Ground Pine lycopodium.
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9339 |
12 |
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Ground Pine Lycopodium
Lycopodium obscurum
Note how the plant differs from the previous lycopodium.
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5273 |
13 |
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Crustose Lichens and a Mountain Spleenwort
Asplenium montanum
These ferns are often found growing in the cracks of rocks on damp cliffsides. This plant was growing along the rock wall at Piney Falls.
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4956 |
14 |
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Walking Fern
Asplenium rhizophyllum
Walking Ferns get their name from the way the leaves grow to a long point. A new fern will grow from the leaf tip and that leaf will do likewise, causing the plants to "walk" across the log or rock.
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5228 |
15 |
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Walking Fern
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4110 |
16 |
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Northern Maidenhair Fern
Asplenium trichomanes
This is a beautiful, delicate fern. It is a decidious fern which dies back each winter then sprouts anew in the spring.
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5261 |
17 |
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Southern Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum capillus-veneris
July 21,2007
Rock Island State Park
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4135 |
18 |
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Ferns
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5794 |
19 |
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Bracken fern
Pteridium aquilinum
These ferns are very common in waste areas in the southeast. It is poisonous to humans, pigs, sheep, horses, cattle. The principal toxin is thiaminase, a chemical that splits thiamine (vitamin B1).
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6699 |
20 |
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Long Beech Fern
Thelypteris phegopteris
Ferns can be very hard to tell apart, but this is a pretty easy one. Note the two bottom leaflets, they point downward. I photographed these in the Smokies.
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4533 |
21 |
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Christmas Fern with spores
Polystichum acrostichoides
These common woodland ferns are "evergreen," the fronds do not die back in the winter like some other ferns. Many ferns produce spores in sori on the underside of the pinnae ("leaves") for reproduction.
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5715 |
22 |
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New York Fern
Thelypteris noveboracensis
Notice how the lower leaflets get smaller and smaller instead of larger the way most ferns do.
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3938 |
23 |
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Sensitive Fern
Onoclea sensibilis
This fern is common in damp woods.
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4238 |
24 |
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Royal Fern
Osmunda regalis
These ferns were planted at the University of Tennessee Arboretum. The spores are located on the brown fertile leaf stalks.
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3901 |
25 |
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Sensitive Fern close-up
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3173 |
26 |
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Southern Grape Fern
Botrychium biternatum
Great Smoky Mountains NP
Sept. 16, 2007
Unlike most other ferns that produce spores under the pinnae ("leaves"), this fern has its spores on a single stalk.
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3560 |
27 |
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Ebony Spleenwort
Asplenium platyneuron
The spores are located on the back side of the pinnae ("leaves"). This Spleenwort has a black stipe ("stem").
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3765 |
28 |
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Fern sori
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4426 |
29 |
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Resurrection or Little Gray Polypody
Pleopeltis polypoioides
This is an interesting epiphytic, or tree-climbing, fern that will sometimes cover the trunks and limbs of a tree. I've seen Pecan trees in the Florida panhandle that are covered with this fern. When the fern's fronds dry they curl up, like the ones in this photo, giving it the nickname "resurrection fern". Note the brown sori, the dry spore-containing bodies on the underside of the fronds. The following photo shows fresh sori.
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2971 |
30 |
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Resurrection or Little Gray Polypody
Pleopeltis polypoioides
This photo shows the fern when it is growing in damp conditions. The yellow spheres contain the spores.
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3361 |
31 |
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Adder's Tongue Fern
Ophioglossum spp.
Frozen Head SP
April 21, 2007
David, the head ranger at Frozen Head, told me about seeing this unusual fern along one of the trails. He took me and 2 other rangers to show us what they look like. I had just lead a hike along that trail and didn't see them! This fern has a single leaf and a stalk with the spore cases.
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3850 |
32 |
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Southern Maidenhair Ferns on the cliff at Rock Island SP
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2938 |
33 |
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Ferns on a damp cliff at Rock Island State Park
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2626 |
34 |
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Horsetails; Scouring Rushes
Equusetum spp.
These unusual plants are considered "Living Fossils," their much larger ancient ancestors pre-date the dinosaurs. Their fossils can be found in the Cumberland Mountains and in shale deposits on the Cumberland Plateau. They are not blooming plants; they make spores, not seeds.
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10377 |
35 |
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Horsetails are a "living fossil." They contain silica, which gives them their distinctive scratchy texture. Like Bracken Ferns, they contain thiaminase and are poisonous to horses.
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3301 |
36 |
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Nostoc is not a plant, it is a type of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria, one of the most primitive of organisms. Some scientists believe these organisms produced the first oxygen for Earth's early atmosphere. Nostoc is also a nitrogen fixer, it can take N2 from the air to be used in symbiotic relationships with mosses, ferns, lichens and other fungi. This kind grows on the ground. It is soft and mushy when it is wet, when it is dry it is black, and brittle.
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3921 |
37 |
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Batrachospermum - A freshwater Red Alga that is classified as Rhodophyta. This alga grows on the rocks at the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge. It seems to prefer cold, running water. Often I am unable to find it in the late summer. Algae are often slimy due to a slime covering on the cells. This is why it is so hard to walk down a boat ramp or on rocks in a stream! Some algae can impart an unpleasant smell and taste to water, others can poison ponds and lakes due to toxins they produce and release into the water. This stuff is so slimy I usually take a long pair of forceps (tweezers) to remove it from the rocks. Why would I want to collect it, you may wonder? It is very lovely to look at under a microscope! I use it in my microbiology classes. The kids are often suprised to see how pretty simple "pond scum" can be! See the following picture of it through a microscope.
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4519 |
38 |
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Appalachian Fir Club-moss
Huperzia appalachiana
Club mosses are ancient plants whose early ancestors date back long before the dinosaurs. You'll have to do some high elevation hiking or drive to Clingmans Dome to see this plant because it grows above 6,000 feet (which is very high for Tennessee). I photographed this plant on the trail to Charlie's Bunion in the Smokies.
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4434 |
39 |
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Shining Club-moss
Huperzia lucidula
Great Smoky Mountains NP
July 12, 2007
I found these club-moss plants while participating in a sensory awareness activity in the Smokies. Notice the small flat strucures at the top of each shoot. These are reproductive bodies called gemmae, which can break off and form new plants. Club-mosses are ancient plants that date back to the time before the dinosaurs.
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5405 |
40 |
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This watery garden of Moss and algae was growing at the base of the cliff at Rock Island State Park. The cliff faced north, helping to keep it damp.
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4464 |