kseemae's Identifications

This was a Canadian goose I found in a lake. They migrate to this area in the earlier months of the year, and they had just recently arrived. This time there was only one that I saw, which usually they are in a big group. It had a black neck and a white stripe. When we approached it, it started swimming toward our car. Usually these animals are aggressive, however it showed no sign of aggression. It was about the size of a medium sized dog.

I have identified this organism as a resurrection fern, a member of the geus Pleopeltis. This organism is located on a tree at Lowry Park in Tampa Florida. Each stem stands about 5 inches in height off of the bark of the tree. It has recognizable reproductive features under its fronds known as sorus which is composed of many tiny spherical items, orange in color. Each of these spots contains many spores which will spread by wind when matured. The habitat was moist and shady. This fern is found in North America and Central America. This observation was made on February 28th, 2019 at 4:00 PM. Reference: http://www.backyardnature.net/ferns.htm