El Fleming, Noland Trail 1

On the trail I encountered many things that sparked my interest. First a few students and I saw a medium size black snake gliding through the leaves. I attempted to catch him but he had already seen me. Then as we got to one of the outlooks I noticed a cluster of dried dull flowers. I picked them up and smelled them to see if they were actually flowers or just an imitation by the tree. They had a very dry fragrance similar to that of cedar but sweeter. It looked as if their seeds had already been dispersed so I pulled out a vile and capped them up. Next I climbed down to the edge of the water. Being a pretty steep and uninviting hill I assumed that it would have little mammal or human traffic. I found a tree of tiny pinecones which is, as we discussed, the female fruit of the tree. I capped one of these as well and after long thought and consideration determined that they were probably selected for due to the moist climate in the area. Gymnosperms have trouble procreating in moist or cool environments. The pine cone must dry out completely before fertilization (although not pollination) can occur. Hence the reason why most pinecones feel more like bark than a flower or leaf. A smaller cone indicates a lower dry time. Also, it would mean that less nutrients are required to produce the cones. The downside to this would be less of a target for the male counterpart of the organism. Since the sperm is spread through wind it has as good of chance ending up in the lake as it does on a pinecone. This is likely why larger pine cone trees are more prominent.