PHOTO PROVIDED Shown is princess pine poking through snow cover.

Through the years, I have often been asked what is your favorite season to be in the woods? I always respond the fall when I watch the leaves changing colors and also hear the occasional flushing of a grouse from a stand of aspen trees.

Later I question my answer when I think of spring, with everything coming to life, and I am able to hear a turkey gobbling while trying to attract a mate. And then with visions of a walk on a snowy wintry day in the woods, I change my mind again

As the first snowflakes of the year begin falling from the sky, drifting down through the bare branches of the trees, and collecting on the ground, many things are seen that are missed in other seasons of the year.

One is the princess pine, also known as ground pine.

The shiny green leaves of the princess pine stand out against the freshly fallen snow. The princess pine is one of our lycopods, which are among our oldest and most primitive living species. The scientific name is Lycopodium obscurum, which comes from two Greek words: lukos, meaning wolf and podos, meaning foot, in reference to the resemblance of a branch tip to a wolf’s paw.

The species word obscurum comes from Latin and means dark, shady or obscured, referring to the place where the princess pine grows. The common name of princess pine is from the resemblance of vertical stems to miniature pine trees; however, this plant, which is neither a pine nor a moss belongs to an ancient group of plants known as clubmosses, which existed before pines and flowering plants.

The princess pine grows along the ground, sending up small spikes that appear as small pine trees. Princess pine neither flowers nor produces seeds. Growing on top of this spike is a strobilus known as a club that will release reproductive spores in the fall. The princess pines are only exposed to small amounts of the sun’s energy, with most exposure during the fall after the trees have lost their leaves and then again in the spring before the trees leaf out.

For a short period of time after the leaves fall from the trees, the princess pines are covered with leaf litter; however, the wind soon blows the leaves off the upright plants but leaves will still cover the runners. The princess pines will grow until the snow covers the small plants and all photosynthesis stops until the snow melts in the spring.

When the trees leaf out the princess pine is once again hampered by lack of sunlight and must depend on what little it receives. Due to this the best place for princess pines to thrive is among the evergreen deciduous woods.

By growing close to an evergreen tree, the plants will not become buried with leaves, and the nearby deciduous trees allow sunlight to reach the plants through the bare branches in both fall and spring.

Although gathering princess pine is prohibited on state owned land, the princess pine can be gathered on private land, with permission from the landowner. Princess pine is often used for Christmas decorations, especially in wreaths. If you are going to harvest princess pine, cut the pine off at the ground level but be sure to leave the running vertical stem.

Do not remove all of the small pine from the stem for the stem will send up new pines during the next year.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, extra money for Christmas gifts and more was made by picking princess pine. In late September and October many people headed to the forests to harvest the princess pine. A day’s yield of princess pine would often weigh between 70 to 90 pounds.

The princess pine was sold by the pound to buyers that paid approximately four to eight cents per pound, depending on the annual market price.

The spores at the tip of the plant are oily and water-repellent. Historically, they were used to soothe chafed skin and protect wounds. In early photography, the spores were used as flash powder when the dry, flammable spores exploded in a brilliant flash of light. At times they are still used in this manner for science demonstrations.

If one of these clubs of the princess pine are touched powdery yellow spores will be seen on your fingers. The best time to see these spores is during August, however some plants will hold the clubs throughout the winter months.

Deer avoid princess pine plants due to their toxic chemicals even though the spores are non-toxic.

In my flower book, there is a listing of a prince’s pine (Chimaphila umbellate, or pipessewa) but this is a flowering plant, with whorls of long, shiny, dark leaves and waxy blossoms that appear in summer. I have never seen this plant.

On a winter’s walk, it is quite easy to find the princess pine with its head peeking out above the snow. What a beautiful contrast with the shiny green leaves against the white snow.

Nature always fills me with a sense of marvel with its abilities and beauty. A place where miraculous things occur.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.