(deer)
Look upon the shady, almost plantless floor, you may see mushrooms and indian pipes popping up through the dead leaves. Unlike green plants which need sunlight to manufacture their own food, these saprophytes obtain food from the dead plants they grow on. Some mushrooms grow upon fallen logs and branches. Some grow in the soil using the dead plant matter there for food. Indian pipes are one of the few flowering plants that are saprophytes.
Indian Pipes and mushrooms
As you continue along the trail, keep your eyes open for vines which have wrapped themselves around tall trees to reach the sun. This adaptation allows a green plant to be rooted in the darkness of the forest, but to grow in the sunny upper reaches of the forest canopy. This vine is called bittersweet (nightshade).
Bittersweet (Nightshade)
A stone fence runs across the trail. This old fence once restricted the range of sheep on the island. Blood, sweat, tears and long hours must have gone into piling these stones, for the fence runs across the entire island.
