Berks Nature Nerds

So true. 💯

🦋🖤🦋

ʀɑѵɛɳɦɛɑʀt 🖤🐦‍⬛

When a bee has visited the Forget Me Not & extracted all its nectar the middle of the flower turns from yellow to white, signalling to other bees not to visit as it is empty of anything beneficial to them. Once the nectaries are replenished the middle is yellow again! The beauty of a symbiotic relationship between flower & insect.

You should never pick a trillium. Here's why:
1. It takes 9 years after germination for a trillium to flower.
2. Each flower yields only ONE seed pod each year.
3. Each plant can live up to 25 years, and gains all of its nourishment for the remainder of the year during the spring when its leaves are present.
4. Trillium are propagated by ANTS. Not bees, the wind, or birds. The seeds are covered by a sweet coating which entices the ants to carry seeds underground into their colonies. After eating the coating, the seed germinates in the perfect subterranean environment.
Every trillium in the forest is essentially a little miracle...

Nelson Rocks In West Virginia, USA!!!

Happy Birthday Crystal Cave! It was 152 years ago today that William Merkel and John Gehret accidentally discovered Crystal Cave when they blasted open a hole in the side of a steep hill while digging for limestone. Their curiosity and excitement ultimately lead to the development of PA's first show cave a few months later. Thank you, William and John for your discovery and a huge thank you to the more than five million people who have toured Crystal Cave over the decades!

📌 The Sedona Subway Cave, Arizona, USA 🇺🇸

Will the Northern Lights be visible in Pennsylvania on Sunday? A geomagnetic storm could bring the northern lights as far south as Iowa, forecasts show.

"No man crosses the same river twice. For its not the same river and he's not the same man"

The New River is recognized as the “second oldest river in the world” and is estimated to be 10 million years old and is one of the few rivers in North America that flows northerly.

The New River starts near Blowing Rock in North Carolina, then drops 900 feet in elevation as it crosses Virginia from the North Carolina border to West Virginia. At its confluence with the Gauley River, the New River ends and the Kanawha River starts.

Reason #8 to plant an oak - Acorns. Acorns are relished by many animal species: deer, gray squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, wild turkeys, crows, flying squirrels, rabbits, opossums, blue jays, quail, raccoons, wood ducks—more than 100 U.S. vertebrate species eat acorns. Not to mention the artistic and visual interest these beautiful nuts provide.

Here are some interesting facts about the dandelion flower:

The dandelion is the only flower that represents the 3 celestial bodies of the sun, moon and stars. ☀️ 🌙 ⭐️. The yellow flower resembles the sun, the puff ball resembles the moon and the dispersing seeds resemble the stars.

The dandelion flower opens to greet the morning and closes in the evening to go to sleep. 😴

Every part of the dandelion is useful: root, leaves, flower. It can be used for food, medicine and dye for coloring.

Up until the 1800s people would pull grass out of their lawns to make room for dandelions and other useful “weeds” like chickweed, malva, and chamomile.

The name dandelion is taken from the French word “dent de lion” meaning lion’s tooth, referring to the coarsely-toothed leaves. 🦁

Dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant.

Dandelion seeds are often transported away by a gust of wind and they travel like tiny parachutes. Seeds are often carried as many as 5 miles from their origin!

Animals such as birds, insects and butterflies consume nectar or seed of dandelion.🐦 🐛 🐜 🦋 🐝.

Dandelion flowers do not need to be pollinated to form seed.

Dandelion can be used in the production of wine and root beer. Root of dandelion can be used as a substitute for coffee. 🍷 🍺

Dandelions have sunk their roots deep into history. They were well known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for over a thousand years.

Dandelion is used in folk medicine to treat infections and liver disorders. Tea made of dandelion act as diuretic.

If you mow dandelions, they’ll grow shorter stalks to spite you.

Dandelions are, quite possibly, the most successful plants that exist, masters of survival worldwide. 💪

A not so fun fact: Every year countries spend millions on lawn pesticides to have uniform lawns of non-native grasses, and we use 30% of the country’s water supply to keep them green.

Bee Happy Gardens 🐝

And a view! 🙂 ❤