Foam and Bubbles

[erugs]

Not on the Lawrence Welk Show, but on the base of a tree yesterday. I've never seen anything like it before but learned that the term is "stemflow." It occurs when rain water drips down the trunks of trees. The water picks up impurities as it runs down the trunk and looks like foam and colorful bubbles, as though children had been playing there.

Have you ever seen it? We spotted it near a stream along the AT on Moose Mountain yesterday, 5/15/11.

Photo: http://community.webshots.com/album/580201351jPeMEx