Witch Hazel

If you are prone to tromping around the woods at this time of year on the Cape you might come across this lovely little tree. It has smooth bark and the stems grow up and out as if forked which is one of the ways it got its common name. The word witch comes from"wych"(not witch) and is actually an old English word describing a stick that has a pair of flexible forked branches. The "Hazel" part of the common name comes from the resemblance the leaves have to those of the hazelnut.Witch hazel is a funny bloomer and not always predictable. Often they will bloom in February if there is a warm spell but some bloom late in the fall and others bloom quite a bit later in the spring.
You can see here that the blossoms have lovely little tendrils.
This tree is quite well known to have medicinal qualities due to the volatile oil content in the bark and wood that also makes it resistant to pests and diseases. Over the years witch hazel has been used to cure or assuage all sorts of ills and can still be found on many drug store shelves as an astringent. It has a sharp, not unpleasant scent.

Princess Pine

If you are out walking in local woodlands you might be lucky enough to come across what looks like an area of tiny pine trees. Called Princess pine by most locals this little plant isn't really a pine at all but a club moss. It is found in clumps, sometimes very large clumps, because it grows by spreading rhyzomes, rootlike structures, under the ground.Lycopodium obscurum is the scientific name of this little plant that goes back in time to when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Like many things of that time it was much larger then. Today it is not as common on the Cape as it once was and even though it looks like it might be fun to grow in your own yard it does not like to be moved or transplanted.This plant is showing the cones that are put out each fall. They look like little yellow candles. The best place to find Princess pine is around a good fresh water source like a pond or a lake. These were photographed in East Sandwich but many conservation areas in Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth and other towns are also good places to find this lovely plant. Like the pines it is named for it is ever green and can be found throughout the year.

Beautiful Beeches

One of my favorite places to walk at this time of year on the Cape is the beech forest in East Sandwich. It is part of the Sandwich conservation land that abuts the Green Briar Nature Center and is an easy and lovely walk at any time of year. While the beeches and hickories change from yellow to gold may be one of the highlights of the year here in my humble opinion.

New Life

Everywhere you look there is new life growing. Leaves are popping out all over. Some are on the branches of trees and some are on the forest floor.

Early in the spring is the best time to find a concentration of flowering plants on the forest floor. They need the sun and once all the trees have their leaves the forest floor will be shaded. There will still be flowers later in the season but for me there is a certain sweetness in the early spring flowers.

Mayflower or trailing arbutus is still flowering in most Cape locations. I also found this little wild violet on the side of the trail and thousands of leaves of the Canada mayflower or false lily of the valley, that will be in bloom over the next few weeks. These pictures were taken at Hathaway's Pond in Hyannis.

Animal Homes

So many people walk through the woods without realizing that all around them live hundreds, thousands of animals. Many of those animals are tiny such as worms, insects, arachnids and crustaceans that most people don't think of because they don't see them. Others, like salamanders, toads and shrews live much of their lives under logs, under leaves or in quiet dark holes. Even the animals we are used to, such as squirrels, rabbits, deer and foxes tend to hide from the noise we make tromping through the woods. Birds move around above our heads in the trees but even they tend to be quieter as we humans pass through.

When I go out with children on walks here on Cape Cod I often ask them to help me look for animal homes. Once they catch on to all the different kinds of animal homes that are in sight in just a small area they love to keep watch and point out possible homes for the rest of the walk.

Pictured here are a chipmunk home, a mouse house, a squirrel home, a bird home and insect homes. Can you tell which is which?