Matchstick apothecia

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:45 am

(All images: Meiji EMZ-13TR/Sony DSC-W5)

It had been raining all the night and into the morning and these were photograhed wet, allowing for the bright color but as they began to dry, as seen in the last photo, some of that brightness began to fade and turn dull. They are very conspicuous this time of the year and seem to prefer the company of nearby conifers here in my area and being where they can receive full sunlight.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:59 am

Nice find Ken. I remember seeing these in the forests of Mt St. Helens, but never knew a name for them.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:09 am

Thanks Mitch

I have them growing all over the place around here. Thoguh they fruit during the warmer months, I find them doing more so during late winter.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:15 am

Not sure you can count this winter as a real winter though. Been in the 40's here recently, about 60° more than it usually is for this date.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:27 am

Mitch640 wrote:Not sure you can count this winter as a real winter though. Been in the 40's here recently, about 60° more than it usually is for this date.

Normally for this time of the year, we are in the upper 40's to mid 50's but here of late we have been in the 60's and even on several occasions, in the lower 70's! Some wildflowers that nomally bloom in late February have already bloomed and others are beginning too, yep, something is wrong, terribly wrong.

However, today we are seasonable, lower 40's with rain, a rather raw late winters day.