Field journal

Moss on the oaks on a damp March morning

San Domingo

  • Three leaning oak trunks thickly coated in bright green moss rise above ferns and leafy shrubs, with a misty, forested canyon behind.

    Oak trunks coated in moss above the ferns, on a damp morning.

  • Close view of dense, feathery green moss covering the side of a trunk, with a few fallen pine needles and a dry leaf caught in it and leaf litter on the ground behind.

    Feathery moss growing thick on a trunk, with fallen pine needles caught in it.

On a damp, misty morning on March 2, the oaks on a shaded slope at San Domingo Arbory were coated in thick, bright green moss, from the base of the trunks well up into the branches. Ferns and young shrubs filled the slope below, and the canyon beyond was soft with mist.

The foothills here have wet winters and long, dry summers. In early March, after the winter rains, shaded slopes like this one were green with moss and ferns.

Theme Monitoring biodiversity

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