Summer ferns, hiking along the Golden Bay Walk on Stewart Island, off the southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand, in November 2005. I was going to try to post something funny for April Fool’s day, but not much seems funny just now. Yes, we need to exercise our sense of humor, but we also really need serenity. Please click the pic for a larger view.
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Green is the colour of hope, and hope, lots of it, we need now. Thank you for the hope-inspiring post!
Green has long been my favorite color, and this one really spoke to me. You are very welcome!
I was really drawn to the spiral shape of the fiddlehead featured in your photo. On Monday I was struck by the same fern feature while out in the wild. Don’t be too surprised when one appears in a posting on my blog. Great minds…
I’m looking forward to it. The Māori name for a fiddlehead is Koru, and the spiral shape is an essential part of their culture and probably the most common shape used in the design of their carved greenstone (jade) jewelry. It can represent creation, perpetual movement, return to a point of origin, equilibrium/harmony in life, and new life. BTW, one is not supposed to buy greenstone jewelry for oneself; it’s only meaningful (lucky) if it’s received as a gift.
Thanks for sharing all of the cultural information, Gary. I had no idea that the spiral shape played such a significant role for the Māori, though I must confess that I know only a very little about the indigenous people of New Zealand. I have always been fascinated by the spiral shape, like the one that you find in Nautilus shells.
Ferns aren’t common in my immediate area, but in east Texas there are several varieties. I’d hoped to visit there this spring, and still may, but I’d best get at it or the new, early growth will have transformed itself. There is one here called resurrection fern that dries up and curls onto itself during dry periods. When the rains come, it uncurls and becomes lush and green again. It tends to grow on the larger limbs of live oak trees.
Surely a wonderful study in climatic survival adaptivity, a kind of floral estivation. There are more varieties of fern here in NZ than you could shake a frond at, from just a few cm to many meters tall. They are quite worthy of many an intensive study.
Beautiful image, my friend :)
Thanks for that! The comments have brought another to mind–stay tuned!
I’ll join the chorus in favor of korus. As you say, NZ excels when it comes to ferns.
A chorus for korus? Of course!
Still a little while for fiddleheads here so seeing yours, even an archival fiddlehead, is a pleasure. Thanks for the green preview.
You’re welcome. In fact, I have another on deck, thanks to interested comments…
Pingback: Fiddlehead | Mike Powell
I love when leaves weave in and out of each other – very nice. :-)
All an integral part of nature’s glorious tapestry. –And so do I!