A Year in the Valley

A Year in the Valley

Discovering the flora and fauna in a small square of Portmellon Valley

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  • A puddle of mud – Filamentous Algae

    A puddle of mud – Filamentous Algae

    Little Venice is drying out and the other day I managed to get a bit closer to see what was going on.  I was surprised to see little plants sprouting out of the mud and rugs of green slime draped over the path. 

    I looked up green algae, as that’s what it looked like, and found out that filamentous algae, or pond slime, is algae that looks like thin green threads.  It supports many microscopic animals and provides food for other small animals.  The slime floats on the surface of the water and then when the water is dried out, it dies and forms a white crust.  I have seen this happening as puddles dry out. 

    Small plants are sprouting up out of the mud as the flooding dries out.

    Daisy D

    19 January 2024
    Aquatic and other plants
    Filamentous Algae

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  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
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  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • Spotted in September
  • Spotted in August
  • Spotted in July
  • Spotted in June
  • Conclusions