
How growth rings chronicle the seasons
To examine growth rings without cutting down or permanently damaging a tree, researchers drill perpendicular to the trunk and extract narrow, pencil-sized cores.

Hepatica: Ephemeral or evergreen?
As the days get longer and the sun warms the forest floor, hepatica flowers emerge. These charming early bloomers captivated the writer and naturalist John Burroughs, who extolled their “winsome grace” in his poem “Hepatica.”