Well spring is on full blast here in southern Japan and the ferns are poppin'! I just love fern fiddleheads (also called croziers). They are so unique looking, like they're from another world. Here's a sampling of some from the mountains around Fukuoka.

Pteris excelsa:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PterisExcelsaCZR.jpg

Pteris Wallichiana:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PterisWallCRZ.jpg

Plagiogyria euphlebia:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PlagiogyriaeuphlebiaCRZ.jpg

Ctenitis maximowicziana:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CtenitismaximowiczianaCRZ.jpg

Woodwardia orientalis:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/WorientalisCRZ.jpg

Microlepia marginata:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/MicrolepiaMarginataCRZ.jpg

Japan is a wet country in general, especially in the south. Fukuoka City gets over 1.6 meters of rain annually (about 65 inches) and the mountains get even more. The result is that forests here are lush and just brimming with ferns and mosses.

Enjoy! Sorry dial-up users!

Tom

I love the pictures. They are so artfull. I have pm ed you.
Dawn

very beauty:heart:

Your pictures are always so stunning. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Excellent photos as always and the fiddlehead photos are just spectacular!:cool:

That is truly amazing!

Great job with the photos & subject matter!!

Those are really cool.:woohoo:

John

neat pics :joy:

Japan was never a country on my "to visit" list. Actually, it was, just not high on it. I think it's getting bumped up a bit!

Thanks for the photos! They are amazing!

These are some amazing pictures. Nice work!
Justin

Amazing pics...thnx:cool:

Tom lovely pics and You seem to like the ferns or atleast the early shoots (shots) of them.
Thanks it is a bit of magic in them
Joakim

Yum! The orchid cannibal is wanting to taste the ferns! :p

Very cool pictures Tom. Thanks.

We are fairly wet here in TN too. about 50" per year and fairly even with peaks in spring and fall. Even higher rainfall in parts of the Smokies. Ferns were coming out with unseasonabley warm winter weather, but we just got slamed with nights in the teens and twenties for about a week.

about 75% of the new forest growth is dead.:( I'm sure we'll get new leaf growth, but I'm doubtfull the rhodos and azaleas will rebloom.

All the above too

That's a lot of different fiddleheads!

Very nice photos

Ron

Very cool pictures Tom. Thanks.

We are fairly wet here in TN too. about 50" per year and fairly even with peaks in spring and fall. Even higher rainfall in parts of the Smokies. Ferns were coming out with unseasonabley warm winter weather, but we just got slamed with nights in the teens and twenties for about a week.

I love your part of the world Rick. If I were ever to move back to America, I would settle somewhere in the southern Appalachians as high as I could up in a deep cove forest. I spent a lot of time up there in the 90's hiking and botanizing and I just love the place. Oh the trilliums and Cyps I could grow there!!! Ahh...have you ever seen a field of Trillium grandiflorum studded with Cyp. parviflorum v. pubscens in full flower? Ahh...to die for!

about 75% of the new forest growth is dead.:( I'm sure we'll get new leaf growth, but I'm doubtfull the rhodos and azaleas will rebloom.

Yeah, the trees will be fine. It has been one freaky winter/spring in much of the US, Europe and even here in Japan. Warm winter followed by a cool/cold spring. Is the world trying to tell us something?

Tom

Tom. Those are some great photos thank you for sharing them with us. Jim.

I love your part of the world Rick. If I were ever to move back to America, I would settle somewhere in the southern Appalachians as high as I could up in a deep cove forest. I spent a lot of time up there in the 90's hiking and botanizing and I just love the place. Oh the trilliums and Cyps I could grow there!!! Ahh...have you ever seen a field of Trillium grandiflorum studded with Cyp. parviflorum v. pubscens in full flower? Ahh...to die for!



Yeah, the trees will be fine. It has been one freaky winter/spring in much of the US, Europe and even here in Japan. Warm winter followed by a cool/cold spring. Is the world trying to tell us something?

Tom

That would be to die for Tom. So far I haven't come across a field of grandiflorums anywhere, and pubescens are very scatered. But I've seen some big stands of C. acule with lots of Jack n'Pulpits and other trilliums.

The diversity is phenomenal here, but I love seeing your view of Japan.

Tom does the Pteris Wallichiana: absorb the insects

Tom as always great pics:cool:

John

Tom does the Pteris Wallichiana: absorb the insects

Not that I'm aware of, in fact I can't think of any fern that is insectivorous.

Nice Photos!!!

Ramon:D