Bona Dea Plants Update

Bona Dea was cloudy the last few days with about 1 and a half inches of rain. This is very welcome. The authorities have been pumping Prairie Creek for some stupid reason. This has lowered the water level and the ducks have not been as numerous. I had the opportunity in the last few days to take some photos of some fall and winter plants. The tree with the red leaves is a Red Maple-Acer rubrum L. It was ironically located right next to Maple Creek Bridge. A photo showing the leaves of this tree as a carpet underneath it. All in all the colors at the park were not too good this year. Lack of rain and real not temperatures most likely. The small green bush with red berries is a Heavenly Bamboo-Nandina domestica. It was located below the bluffs on Serendipity Trail at the West end of the park. The other 2 photos is of a Christmas Fern-Polystichum acrostichoides.This was located in the exact same spot as the Bamboo. This is an interesting note about the Christmas Fern: Why the name Christmas?-If you look closely at the leaves, you will see that they are made of many leaflets in pairs on either side of the central stalk. Each of these leaflets has a little "ear" pointing upward along the stalk. These ears make the leaflet look something like a Christmas stocking. Kinda interesting huh!!