Horsetail Strobilus

I love these tiny strobili that you find at the tips of Horsetails. They are especially beautiful when the sun shines through them. This one was growing at the Priddis Greens Golf Course back in July, when we botanized the forested areas on their land.

"Horsetails are a group of relatively primitive, vascular plants in the genus Equisetum, family Equisetaceae, subdivision Sphenophytina. The sphenophytes have an ancient evolutionary lineage occurring as far back as the Devonian period. These plants were most abundant and diverse in species about 300 million years ago, during the late Devonian and early Carboniferous periods. Fossils from that time suggest that some of these plants were as large as 8 in (20 cm) in diameter and at least 49 ft (15 m) tall. Today, however, this group is represented by 29 species of small, herbaceous plants all in the genus Equisetum. Horsetails are very widespread.

From: science.jrank.org/pages/3390/Horsetails.html

Had a lovely day out in the mountains again today, when a group of us went out to the Golden Eagle Migration location near Mt. Lorette, Kananaskis. By the time we left in the afternoon, the Eagle spotter had recorded 195 Eagle sightings since early this morning. The people who volunteer to do this do such a great job! Can you imagine spending all those hours between sun-up and sun-down, with your binoculars pointed towards the sky and mountain peaks, your scope at the ready, too? Actually, I didn't see a single Golden Eagle, as they are practically invisible to the naked eye.

Some of us went for a walk from this migration location, to the Troll Falls, a beautiful, high waterfall hidden in the forest. We even saw a couple of little mushrooms, LOL!