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NoBeginningNoEnd

Registered: 09/16/11
Posts: 471
Last seen: 6 years, 11 months
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Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech!
#15909393 - 03/06/12 02:54 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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So on a whim, I decided to see what a forest near my friend's house looked like on Google Earth, and it looked like a good swath of land. I remembered that when I drove to his place, the area had some fairly old, dense forest with tall trees, so I hopped on my snowshoes and explored the area. I was not disappointed! Found tons of Hemlock, yellow birch, what I assume are giant sugar maples, and...tons of old and young Beech! They were everywhere! I even found a huge decaying Beech log on the ground, and a bunch of damaged trees, which could be good spots for the saprophytic Psilocybe caerulipes! I'm stoked for this summer, wahoo! Man, one great find like this one makes me forget all the other false leads that came before it. And those false leads, while disappointing, were not all for nothing, because now I know not to go there, and knowledge is power. You can't know until you go there in person. I'm slowly mapping all of the areas with Beech trees in my city 
Oh and get this: this new spot is only 5 km from my place, it has tons of trails and loops, and it's only 2 km from a major river...looks very promising!
Incidentally this hobby will not only help me lose weight with all the walking, but it'll also help me get over my fear of dogs, thanks to forced regular exposure. I often come across owners walking their dogs in the woods, and they often don't have a leash so they come running toward me and start sniffing my crotch and circling me. At first I would wield my poles as weapons, but now I'm getting a bit less scared lol! Come on winter, go away, no one likes you
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suchen
Once and Future Noob



Registered: 06/28/11
Posts: 8,841
Loc: Shangri-la
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: NoBeginningNoEnd]
#15909711 - 03/06/12 04:06 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Awesome! I can't wait to see your finds this spring and summer
-------------------- Rod Tulloss said: The bulb is the bulb. The volva is the volva. They have a very long term realtionship, but they’re “just friends.”
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gman


Registered: 10/09/04
Posts: 671
Loc: NY/NJ
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: suchen]
#15911116 - 03/06/12 08:17 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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You're optimism is contagious-I just may visit a beautiful hillside that I first noticed last summer. Thanks
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vespertine



Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 115
Loc: France <-> USA
Last seen: 4 years, 3 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: NoBeginningNoEnd]
#15911576 - 03/06/12 09:42 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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I just can't conceive of being excited about beech trees. Or hemlock. They're so commonplace in my neck of the woods
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ShadeOfDeepPurple


Registered: 10/08/11
Posts: 2,831
Loc: The Isle Of Everywhere
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: vespertine]
#15911610 - 03/06/12 09:48 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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The only trees I get excited about are pines for amanitas. As for psilocybin mushrooms, fields and lawns tend to be my best hunting grounds with the exception of gyms.
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NoBeginningNoEnd

Registered: 09/16/11
Posts: 471
Last seen: 6 years, 11 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: vespertine]
#15912814 - 03/07/12 06:56 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
vespertine said: I just can't conceive of being excited about beech trees. Or hemlock. They're so commonplace in my neck of the woods
I guess it's subjective, but I'm excited each time I find a good stand. I like Beech trees because of their bark that remains smooth and distinctive even into old age (unless stupid vandals carve into them), and I find it really neat that the leaves stay on the tree through winter: their color is quite unique during winter too -- a bright straw yellow instead of the dull brown I've seen on other trees, and they're visible from far away...they're like beacons calling out at me Something else that is neat is that even infant trees -- just a little twig not even a foot tall -- sport huge leaves...the leaves aren't proportional, and they start off very large even on tiny little saplings. Now I know why it's called Fagus grandifolia! Last time I was amazed that this tiny, seemingly insignificant twig, had super large and well-developed leaves hanging off of it. The little twig that could, lol!
And Hemlocks have nice rich chocolate brown bark with flattened scales, and the leaves are cool looking, especially the underside, with the fine white line going through the middle. I like how dense the canopy gets, and how the long branches droop down and almost touch the ground. The leaf shape is unique among conifers, at least in my area -- very short and flat, and grooved on top, with rounded tips. I find it cool when I see a Hemlock and a Beech growing side by side.
I think it's healthy to have a favorite tree or two, and there's nothing like the feeling you get when you actually find the type of tree you're looking for.
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NoBeginningNoEnd

Registered: 09/16/11
Posts: 471
Last seen: 6 years, 11 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: gman]
#15912837 - 03/07/12 07:03 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
gman said: You're optimism is contagious-I just may visit a beautiful hillside that I first noticed last summer. Thanks
Thanks man, go for it! There is nothing more relaxing than admiring beautiful nature. I find that being outdoors in nature is the best anti-depressant for me. If you really slow down and observe all the life around you, nature is awesome! There is so much to discover.
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NoBeginningNoEnd

Registered: 09/16/11
Posts: 471
Last seen: 6 years, 11 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: suchen]
#15912880 - 03/07/12 07:22 AM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
suchen said: Awesome! I can't wait to see your finds this spring and summer
Hehe thanks suchen, you can rest assured that I will post lots of pics if I do find what I'm looking for! Honestly, without posts by vjp, TheThinker, Roy, and all the others who posted clear pics of their finds, it would be a lot more difficult, because I only had a few grainy pics of caerulipes. Without their posts saying that Beech forests are key, I wouldn't have known where to look. So thanks for your great posts guys! As soon as I make my first active find, I'm becoming a supporter of this great site! At the top of my list are caerulipes, ovoids, quebecensis, and liberty caps. I will find them all, mwahahahaha!! I'll probably need to travel for the libs, but it'll be fun and worth the road trip! Not sure if ovoids occur here, but if they do then I'll be the first to find, and it'll be thanks to this website! Pretty sure that quebecensis will occur here because Montreal isn't that far away, and they were found there.
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vespertine



Registered: 02/02/12
Posts: 115
Loc: France <-> USA
Last seen: 4 years, 3 months
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Re: Wahoo! I just found another great stand of Hemlock and old Beech! [Re: NoBeginningNoEnd]
#15913920 - 03/07/12 01:02 PM (11 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
NoBeginningNoEnd said: The little twig that could, lol!

You're right, hemlocks ARE pretty cool, especially when you stumble across an old stand of them. In the snow they're so pretty and you can take shelter under them, and they're nice in the summer too since nothing grows under them and they leave a bed of tiny needles.
Yes, nature is a wonderful anti-depressant isn't it? Being outdoors is essential to my mental/spiritual well-being. If I couldn't do that I would go crazy! Which is why I dislike city life..but as long as I can reach nature from wherever I am, I'm happy.
Looking forward to seeing your finds!
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