Heber Down Conservation Area -- April 14th, 2011

A couple of us ventured up to Heber Down CA to check things out-- in particular the Spring Ephemerals as the experts call them. They're a fascinating group of flowers that sprout, bloom & die off in about 6-8 weeks, between April and when the forest trees leaf out and cut off the sunshine to the forest floor.

Because of their short life span, most are short stemmed and have small flowers.

Here's a link to a short article on Spring Ephemerals if you're interested...
Spring Ephemerals article at NatureSmart

Hepaticas are one of the earliest to appear...

 Most are white but some are pink and others are blue/violet.

I'm guessing this fungus belongs to the Turkey Tail family.

This looks a bit like wood but it's a fungus.

I don't see many green fungi. This bracket/shelf fungus is an exception.

Wild Leeks add a beautiful splash of green to the forest floor. There are 1000s at Heber Down. Crush a leaf and have a sniff and it's easy to tell they're in the onion family, though it's not a very strong smell to me-- but maybe that's my sniffer.

I don't remember the red stalks on the Leeks from other years but they must have been there.

Yellow Birch with its distinctive bark.

This Hemlock tree seems to have been especially attractive to Woodpeckers.

Fall colours in the Spring! The leaves seem to be preserved (at least compared to those on the forest floor) in the Spring "pools". The pools are almost like large puddles, only a few inches deep. The nearby trees are reflected in the water.