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Cuenca and around

Small wonders beside the trail

Look closer at berries, seed capsules, clubmosses, lichens and fungi: the small details of highland walks.

12 photographs

Red fruiting bodies top small Cladonia lichen cups among pale lichen scales and dry vegetation. — Red-tipped Cladonia lichen

Small white Lycoperdon puffballs covered in conical spines grow on soil among dry twigs and grass. — White spiny Lycoperdon puffballs

A brown-capped Agaricus mushroom grows beside moss, exposed roots and leaf litter. — Brown Agaricus mushroom on mossy ground

Brown Suillus mushrooms lie among grass and pine litter, with a yellow sponge-like pore surface visible on a damaged fruit body. — Brown Suillus mushrooms in grass

Thin overlapping Stereum brackets form orange-brown bands on a tree trunk, with smooth orange undersides. — Orange-brown Stereum brackets on a trunk

Clustered Phlegmariurus clubmoss shoots branch repeatedly above páramo plants, with dense tiny leaves covering each stem. — Phlegmariurus clubmoss shoots in páramo

Upright reddish Phlegmariurus clubmoss shoots, densely covered in tiny overlapping leaves, grow among wet páramo moss. — Reddish Phlegmariurus clubmoss in wet moss

A hanging cluster of blue, waxy-coated Berberis berries grows beside stiff, spiny-edged leaves on a woody shrub. — Blue Berberis berries on a spiny shrub

A dense cluster of dark blue-black Miconia berries grows at the end of a branch among green leaves with three prominent veins rising from the base. — Dark Miconia berries among veined leaves

Pink-white Gaultheria fruits cluster among small leathery finely serrated leaves. The fruits retain a five-part calyx. — Pink-white Gaultheria fruits

A brown Bomarea capsule has split open to expose a cluster of fleshy red seeds on a narrow-leaved climbing stem. — Red Bomarea seeds in an open capsule

Ripe yellow Cucumis dipsaceus fruits hang from a tendrilled vine, their oval surfaces densely covered in soft bristles. — Yellow Cucumis dipsaceus fruits

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