deya21's Journal

I walked through Houghton Garden around 5-6pm. It was overcast and damp from the previous rain showers. I found a ceramic pot while walking around and decided to take it with me even though it was cold. I had always noticed the plants on my first 2 nature walks but I didn't realize how different they were like the fuzzy spiky mosses I wouldn't have thought to consider them mosses until i learned they were. I was able to see all 4 groups of the plants we learned about in class. I hadn't realized either how different the ferns were from each other since just walking by they look the same. However they have intricacies that are different like the shape of the individual leaves and how many come out of the stem. I was also surprised to find out ferns change colors to orange and red just like leaves on a tree do which was exciting to see.

I walked through Houghton garden before my classes around 11. It was very peaceful with the leaves falling and the sun overhead although the acorns falling was a little scary and one hit my head too. It wasn't too hot or too cold. I had came to walk here for the previous walk and on that one I also found many fungi. I was surprised that I still managed to find new ones that I didn't see before. I like seeing the variety in color, shape, and size. It was also interesting to learn that the lichens are fungi too because it wasn't something I thought about. I think there is always more diversity in a group like fungi that we just don't think about. Its just very interesting to see how they can be so different yet under the same kingdom.

I decided to head to Houghton Garden since it had been a while since the last time I went. It was cold outside for me but tolerable. The sun was barely setting so there was some warmth from there and the wind from earlier had calmed down. The pathways were pretty muddy and the ground was covered with leaves. I kept my eyes low much of the walk which is how I found all these mushrooms. The mushrooms were something very exciting for me to find because I never had any like these in my hometown. I was surprised by the diversity of mushrooms in such a small area and also surprised how colorful some of them could be. This was also my first time seeing a slug in person so that was fun. Near the end is started to get colder and I left.