November 6

Last Saturday, I resumed my hike on the Meijer Heartland Trail, east toward Alma. The early morning weather was mostly cloudy with a temperature of 37 degrees and a light gusty wind out of the northeast. Leaving the car parking off Osborn Rd., I headed east on the paved trail where the first scattering of leaf litter revealed mostly Big Tooth Aspen. Just ahead, I noticed the striking orange fruit of a Bittersweet vine and the red drupes on a panicle of Staghorn Sumac. The seed inside each drupe can be dried and ground into a red powder that looks like paprika. This spice has been used for thousands of years in the Middle East and North Africa. Continuing eastward, I noticed the litter on the trail had changed to decayed leaves of maple and oak. Further ahead, I came upon an Aster plant whose once-white blossoms had seeded out as well as some fresh “shelves” of an edible mushroom called Chicken-of-the woods. Still further, I was surprised to spot a half dozen Giant Puffball mushrooms sticking out of the leaf litter, including this one that was as large as my shoe. Since it was white and fleshy, I broke off and ate a piece to enjoy its “mushroom” flavor. Just before the halfway point, a large patch of low-lying green vegetation caught my eye. Leaving the path, I walked over to see that most of it was Common Cocklebur mixed with some Beggar ticks. Turning around at Warner Rd., I began retracing my steps west when I paused to listen to a Blue Jay’s call. Continuing west, I spotted a mature Apple Gall hanging from a Red Oak leaf. This gall formed earlier in the year when a tiny female Cynipid wasp injected an egg into the vein of a growing leaf. As the egg enlarged and hatched, the leaf cells mutated and grew around the larva forming a marble size green sphere. As the larva grew so did the gall that later dried out, turned brown when the larva tunneled out and changed into an adult wasp to begin the cycle again. Finally, I made it back to the car and headed home.

Forest in fall

Far from the din

Maples stand naked

November blows in

At my feet

A golden crust

Canopy oaks

From red to rust

Signs of the season

Some of the best

Nature the host

Myself the guest

D. DeGraaf