It smells like freedom
On my first plane travel after Thailand (SteemFest 4 in 2019!!) I went to Italy, more precisely to Florence...and it tasted like freedom!
I spent my time mainly in the cities of Arezzo and Florence, but today I want to share some pictures of the beautiful forest of Casentinesi.
As an ecologist, I spend much time in the forest, but the portuguese forest that I know does not have silver fir (Abies alba) or beech (Fagus sylvatica) trees. That was one of the reasons I got so positively impressed!!
Silver fir (Abies alba)
Silver fir is a long-living conifer that grows naturally in european mountains. Its timber is highly appreciated for construction, furniture, plywood, and pulpwood.
The trunk hosts several species of mosses and liquens, and it is easy to find parts of old branches.
Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica)
As a deciduous tree, beech leaves were already covering the ground.
Autumn is definitely here!!
A close look at the trunk was my chance to see the shape of their leaves while hanging green in the tree.
Beech galls
On the leaves there are these structures that remind of fruit, right? Although, beech tree is a Fagaceae and thus the fruits do have different shapes ( spiky fruit capsule with two beechnuts) and are not placed in the leaves. Sooo, it seems I have found the gall midge Mikiola fagi.
I don't know how about you, but I think they are pretty similar to jelly beans 😋
There was another "new" species for me: Quercus cerris.
(In Portugal we have a lot of Quercus trees, but don't have Quercus cerris)
I picked the branch from the ground and coincidentally it had a branch gall.
During our visit we were challenged to identify all the micro-habitats in those beech trees: branch cavities, dead wood, bryophytes, liquens..., etc
The methodology we have used is included in the GoProFor LIFE project.
All of a sudden, we were covered by this fog and some precipitation :) Although, we didn't get discouraged
Autumn temperature and humidity...showed us Macrolepiota procera, that is the popular parasol mushroom.
I discovered that it is edible, even if raw (not cooked!)
At our starting point, it was possible to pick one of the three hiking tours possibilities, and we walked following "Prato alla penna" direction.
I must say that I got impressed with the beauty and naturalness of this forest. There is no heavy machinery working noise and several trees are evaluated/ cataloged according to the biodiversity that they may harbour.
I definitely recommend this forest that is home to many (many) species!!