macrophotography

Hair ice /  by Arne Bischoff

What is Hair ice?

So lofty!

Hair ice (also known as ice wool or frost beard) is a quite rare natural phenomenon. It forms from moisture inside dead or rotten wood and not from general humidity. The ice has the form of incredibly fine, silky white hair. It is only around 0,02 mm thick, about a quarter of the thickness of a human hair. And it is so delicate that once you touch it or even breath on it, it collapses. That said, Hair ice is incredibly soft and feels surprisingly warm to the touch.

I personally find it incredibly beautiful.

Hair ice only forms under very specific circumstances. There needs to be the slightest of frost with tempeatures just below 0° C in humid conditions. It must not be too cold, or the whole wood freezes over. It must not be windy, or it breaks down. Hair ice only forms in parts of the Northern hemisphere and only in deciduous forest. It does not form on bark, only on bare wood.

Thankyou, fungi!

As soon as 1918, German meteorologist Alfred Wegner assumed a fungus as catalyst for the formation of Hair ice. About 100 years later, in 2015, the fungus Exidiopsis effusa finally has been identified as key to the formation of Hair ice.

Humans have not yet find a way to reproduce it.

Home of the Hair ice. A beech forest in the Harz mountains.

Hair ice forms on dead or rotten wood and is incredibly delicate.

Early blossomers: Liverleaf, wood anemone and snowdrop /  by Arne Bischoff

Right now, while I am writing these lines, the first liverleafs stretch their heads through the ground. Time for me to revisit two wonderful days in spring 2022 with lots of liverleaf (Anemone hepatica), wood anemone (Anemonoides nemorosa and Anemonoides ranunculoides) and snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis).

I am not a botanist, unfortunately. I had a flower lover with me, and without her, I would not have taken these images. This makes me very thankful. I myself overlook the wonder and beauty of plants way too easily, as I have very little knowledge about those beauties.

That’s why there is not much of a story that I can tell here. I leave it to you to behold and wonder and make your own story of it.

PS Oh and of course, I met some animals, too.