a walk down fern gully

We have started to walk for exercise.  Hoofing it around the block, which is exactly one kilometer, is great for measuring distance, but supremely boring.  So now we often walk the Confederation trail from Highway 25 (York) east.  It's a lovely walk, and so much is happening with wildlife right now. On one section of the trail, we see up to 7 snowshoe hares in their summer brown coats.  And it's high time for the ferns.

bunchberry is a member of the dogwood family.  It will produce red berries in fall.

A close up of an exquisite azalea flower

this wild azalea is snuggled up against a protective white pine

Old Man's Beard is a lichen, a symbiotic relationship between algae and fungus. 
It drapes itself on branches, and does not do the trees any harm.

Pussytoes is a short wild flower with grey-green leaves.  It will form a white cluster of flowers later in the season.

This tiny red cone the female flower of  the white spruce. 
The male flower is yellow and produced a cloud of spores, some of which fertilzed this female flower,
which will eventually produce a brown cone filled with seeds.

The most common fern on the trail is the Sensitive Fern.
It has wide bright green leaves, and the spore fronds from last year are still there.
Look closely at the pic below:  the spore cases are in the shape of little balls.
A great way to identify this species.

sensitive fern spore fronds are like little balls

ghostly cinnamon fern

Interruped fern has a section in the middle of the frond with spore capsules on the underside of the leaves

Old apple trees line the trail.  The story is that when the trail was a rail line, train passengers would throw their apple cores out the windows after munching the fruit.  In time, many of those seeds in the cores germinated.