Day 148: Hooray! I have been hunting for Cardamine for several weeks now and until today, hadn't even spotted cotyledon leaves (not that they're easy to find with this plant). The eruption of Cardamine means that spring is truly just around the corner. I was also surprised to see some early Oxalis flowering in the Cowlitz Wildlife area near Mossyrock Dam. I'd gone lichen hunting, wanting to breathe good, pure air and give my winter lungs a workout. I may have gone into "social distancing" mode, but I will continue to take exercise in the superlative atmosphere of our Pacific Northwest forests. Today's choice of trail took me up a few small hills whose summits I had not previously attained, and one section of the pathway was so lined with Red Alder hosting Menegazzia terebrata (Tree Flute lichen) that it shall henceforth be known the Menegazzia Spur in my mental atlas of botanical waypoints. As I mentioned a few days ago, now that I've identified it, I'm finding it everywhere. No complaints from me on that score! It's also one of my favourite spots for early Cardamine, so maybe I was cheating just a little, hunting it down where I knew it would be easiest to find.
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