The Woodland Has Several Layers

One bright summer day, Puschel and Flauschi stopped at an open part of the woodland path. Low green cushions grew beside them. A little farther away stood ferns and a leafy shrub. Above them, tall tree trunks reached into a roof of leaves.

Puschel“Someone is building upwards here. But the stairs are missing!”

Flauschi kept the green magnifying glass lowered and looked up with him from the path. It could not help with the high branches. They did not point it towards the sky. Puschel imagined a woodland house with lots of windows.

Flauschi“We can describe different layers in woodland. These are areas with plants growing at different heights, not solid floors like a house has.”

They began near the ground. A moss cushion grew beside the path. Grasses and ferns stood taller behind it. These low plants belonged to the herb layer. Here the word meant a woodland layer, not just herbs used for cooking.

Puschel“Then the fern is already a floor above the cushion. Without a lift.”

Flauschi“Higher up are shrubs, with woody branches. Tall trees form the tree layer. A tree’s crown is its upper part with branches and leaves or needles.”

Flauschi pointed from the low green plants to the shrub, then to the treetops. The areas overlapped. There were no closed rooms or straight dividing lines. Roots also grew in the soil under their feet, although they could not see them.

Puschel“Does every woodland have exactly the same house?”

Flauschi“No. Some have lots of shrubs, others very few. Light, the plants and their surroundings make a difference. Layers are a way to describe what we see.”

Puschel looked up again, then down at the little moss cushion. He did not need to climb anywhere. He could compare plenty from the path.

Puschel“I do not need my stairs. My eyes are enough for looking.”

Flauschi smiled. They walked on together. Puschel was no longer looking only at separate trees. He could see how much woodland grew between and beneath them too.