Tag: Hayscented Fern

Treman Early Autumn Walk IX

The post discusses various unique kennings, their meanings, and reflects on the term “Swan-Road” symbolizing a serene river.

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Below Lucifer Falls this quiet water flows beneath a bridge linking Gorge and Rim trails. The reflection of blue sky between river trees brings to mind the kenning “Swan-Road.” To me it is more fitting than the established meaning: “The Sea,” also associated more appropriately with Whale-Road.

Swan Road

The seldom used English verb “ken.” The Oxford English dictionary proposed the word was borrowed from Norse based on a confluence of meaning, i.e. to know. When it is turned into a noun with the -ing ending, it is a phrase that brings to mind and object described.

Other kennings from : “Whale road = sea (e.g., a place where whales travel); Treasure seat = throne (e.g., the source of treasure or reward, or the role of the king in rewarding his men); Ring giver, ring breaker = king (e.g., the person who bestows rings, or breaks off a piece of his golden bracelet as a reward); Sword sleep = death (e.g., a “sleep” caused by a sword wound); Rapture of heaven = sun (e.g., the sun, brightest of heavenly objects, the joy of heaven); Weaver of peace = wife (e.g., a person whose grace and mildness instills peace, or one who creates domestic tranquility); Earl’s defense = Beowulf (e.g., the one who defends Hrothgar); Mead seats = benches in Heorot (e.g., the places where people sit and drink).”

Click Me for a master work of English poetry that employs kenning forms, “The Porcupine” by Galway Kinnell.

References:

–text in italics and quotes is from the eNotes.com, “Beowulf.”

–Kinnell, Galway. “The Porcupine.” The Hudson Review 20, no. 2 (1967): 219–22.

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Treman Early Autumn Walk VIII

Park staff evaluate and dislodge dangerous rocks on trails before springtime opening.

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Overhangs such as this worry me, always forcing a faster pace. Over the years during early springtime walks, sometime before the gorge trail is opened officially, the path is littered with huge blocks fallen during the winter, possibly even that same day.

A task the park staff undertakes before opening is an evaluation of sequences such as this, with cliffs and overhangs, for portions ready to fall. Rock climbers are engaged to dislodge these rocks. At times, larger segments of the cliff are blasted resulting in landslides.

On a gentler note, these asters grace Finger Lakes trails this time of year.

Click Me for another Fall Aster post.

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Treman Early Autumn Walk VII

Unnamed though memorable

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An unnamed waterfall along the Gorge Trail is memorable for the steps alongside.

I have captured it in all seasons from the beginning of my photography interest. Here it is at midday, early autumn, 2023, taken with the Apple Iphone 14 proMax. Bright sunlight ruins the shot.

Here, evening, early summer 2003, the foreground shaded, late day sunlight on trees beyond. The Sony dsc F828 camera, on a tripod, was used.

Here, bright sunlight at midday is handled by framing the brightly lit waterfall, April, 2002. A handheld Sony Mavica was used.

Daring visitors jump from the wall at right into a plunge pool, seen here as the quiet water at base of wall. It is a doubly dangerous activity as the force of water can hold a swimmer under indefinitely, missing the narrow pool results in striking the rocks. Robert H. Treman New York State Park, Tompkins County, Ithaca, New York.

“Plunge pools are formed by the natural force of falling water, such as at a waterfall or cascade; they also result from man-made structures such as some spillway designs. Plunge pools are often very deep, generally related to the height of fall, the volume of water, the resistance of the rock below the pool and other factors.[4] The impacting and swirling water, sometimes carrying rocks within it, abrades the riverbed into a basin, which often features rough and irregular sides. Plunge pools can remain long after the waterfall has ceased flow or the stream has been diverted. Several examples of former plunge pools exist at Dry Falls in the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington. They can also be found underwater in areas that were formerly above sea level, for example Perth Canyon off the coast of Western Australia.”

“Plunge pools are fluvial features of erosion which occur in the youthful stage of river development, characterized by steeper gradients and faster water flows. Where softer or fractured rock has been eroded back to a knickpoint, water continues to bombard its base. Because this rock is often less resistant than overlying strata, the water from the higher elevation continues eroding downward until an equilibrium is achieved.”

Reference: text in italics and quotes is from the Wikipedia, “Plunge Pool.”

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Treman Early Autumn Walk III

Cultivated vs Wild

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“Dennstaedtia punctilobula, the eastern hayscented fern or hay-scented fern, is a species of fern native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Wisconsin and Arkansas, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Alabama; it is most abundant in the east of its range, with only scattered populations in the west.”

Hayscenter Fern ( Dennstaedtia punctilobula), spreading by underground rhizomes, this hardy fern native to the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, can quickly take over a space, crowding out weeds and other plants with plentiful yellow-green fronds.

“It is a deciduous fern with fronds growing to 40–100 cm (rarely 130 cm) tall and 10–30 cm broad; the fronds are bipinnate, with pinnatifid pinnules about three times as long as broad. It occurs in damp or dry acidic soils in woods or open woods, from sea level up to 1,200 m altitude.”

“Dennstaedtia punctilobula can exhibit varying degrees of phototropism. The common name “Hay-scented Fern” comes from the fact that crushing it produces an aroma of fresh hay.“

“The presence of D. punctilobula influences the dynamics of the understory vegetation of many forests in the eastern United States. An abundance of highbush blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) in open areas encourages new tree seedlings. Where the effects of herbivorous animals (such as deer) reduce the abundance of R. allegheniensis, D. punctilobula, which is not browsed by deer, takes over. Where D. punctilobula becomes common, the growth of tree seedlings is restricted.”

Reference: text in italics and quotes is from the Wikipedia, “Dennstaedtia punctilobula.”

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills