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!!
I'm happy to finally see a post from Italy other than the famous monuments and tasty pastas and pizza haha!
Even though I never visited Italy before, being an outdoors lover, I always preferred getting to see more nature from a country rather than the emblematic monuments which are also pretty cool!
I was not thinking on that, but it is true! 😂
Although, I also have dozens of pasta and monuments photos I would love to share 😅 até least the best part is already uploaded for posterity 😊
There's no problem to upload those as well because I'm sure they will gather a lot of curious eyes! I'm also looking forward to see them but yeah, I prefer more green in the pictures! 😃
Very cool photos, specially the one with the fog. Looks like something evil might appear! Ahahahha! 😂
Ahah ☺️
I didn't felt scary, not even a bit...but I was with a large group of people 😅
The foggy picture is so cool! Witnessing autumn in the forest is always a joy for the eyes
In forests like these where leaves fall, it surely is!!
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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1356.
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beautiful landscapes, excellent photographic work
So thanks!! ☺️
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STOPI miss Italy so much... I spent several years of my childhood there, I always plan to visit my Italian family but never find the time. The mushroom is called Macrolepiota Procera and I usually eat it breaded and fried or as an alternative to meat in the tripe stew. Tastes amazing when done properly, but it's quite heavy for the stomach.
I really enjoyed my experience in Italy :) you should start making plans to go before another strange event, like the pandemics,stop US from travelling :)
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So thanks!! Besides the amazing food,this forest walk was my favorite part of the trip :)
And I only went near Camaldoli...the park is huuuge!