Friday’s plan was to walk up the wooded lower slopes of the Tatra’s, to the coll at Przelęczw Grzybowcu, by following the Grzybowiecka Dolina upwards from Strażyska Polana. Easy enough, but as with the previous visit to the Tatra’s earlier in the week, we were accompanied by the addition of wet weather. For me though, this made a better visit, as it gave the continuous canopy a greater feeling of wilderness, as the clouds swirled in and out of the tree cover, and the water droplets caught on the vegetation and sparkled in the limited daylight that filtered down.
Woods with Sarnia Skała in the Distance – 13 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)
Here the woods are mainly Spruce with only the occasional broad-leaved interspersed within the canopy. So the ground flora is limited to areas where the canopy is thinner, particularly along the path edges. The low clouds made the deeper depths of of the woods very dark and decidedly moody, giving the areas of thinner canopy a greater feeling of light and life.
Along the path edges as the slope was slowly zigzagged up to Przelęczw Grzybowcu were a variety of limestone loving plants from the small Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) with their white puffballs of blooms to the larger pinky white flowers of the Greater Masterwort (Astrantia major). My favourite though, was the blue flowered Alpine Sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) that had formed a large blue-flowered clump in the middle of the path, far more delicate in the flowers than the common British yellow flowered Sow-thistles (Sonchus sp.).
Alpine Sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) – 13 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)
Most suited to the wooded nature of the place are the fungi, which were occasionally seen along the edge of the path. The following picture is of a wonderfully deep peachy coloured fungi; that was found growing on a dead log, amongst moss and dead leaves. Unfortunately I have no idea what sort it is – so any names would be useful?
Unknown Fungi – 13 July 2012 (Copyright Carol Jones)
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