Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
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Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
A short piece I wrote, "Finding Mindfuless in the Ephemeral", was published in t.e.l.l. New England's online magazine. Read the piece, and the larger issue, online here. If you have difficulty viewing the magazine in Issuu, you can also read the piece here.
Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
Getting to Know Woolly Hudsonia
[Also known as sand false heather, woolly beach-heather, and poverty grass]
Hudsonia tomentosa is gray and brown for much of the year. A woody, evergreen, low shrub, this plant roots firmly in the sandy soils of coastal dunes. It crouches low in response to desiccating winds and salt spray, and prefers the backdune, which provides some shelter. Its ruggedness is necessary: the environmental conditions are harsh. Woolly hudsonia does what it needs to stay alive here. There is suspicion that it releases root toxins to discourage the growth of plants that might shade it out if allowed to thrive. This subshrub, which looks more like a groundcover, needs full sun. Despite its ruggedness, it cannot survive even a modest trample. Yet it plays an important role in the heathland ecosystem, stabilizing soils and minimizing erosion. Beach heather spreads cautiously; a colony can take the form of a series of graying clumps dotted across a bald landscape.
In June, something spectacular happens. The gray, patchy carpet changes hue completely as small, yellow flowers bloom at the tips of each scaly stalk. Catching it in bloom is wonderful, though this moment is ephemeral.
Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.
Sharing my finds, with the hope that you will share yours as well.