Plant (nursery) stumps and other thoughts

 A hike from the Pisgah Wildlife Center brought both enjoyment of the transition from winter to spring, but also these gems: a nursery stump full of mosses, but more significantly, rhododendron seedlings and young rattlesnake plaintain rosettes.
rattlesnake orchid and rhododendron seedlings on mossy stump

a nursery stump
I started paying attention, after we saw quite a large rhododendron that had colonized an old stump. 

As a former germination/population biology plant researcher (in a long ago former life), this is the sort of thing that I studied. 

Such fun, to notice now, and see how the mosses have provided germination establishment opportunities on decaying stumps.

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