Little explorers, big adventures

On a discovery tour around nature

Take out your magnifying glass and look closely! In autumn, the forest becomes your classroom, as there’s so much to discover right now.

It rustles, crackles, and crunches. Nothing sounds as lovely and varied as the autumn forest beneath your little shoes. Yellow, orange, and red – the trees glow in a whole range of colours, and there’s an endless amount to discover amongst them. Grab a magnifying glass and become a mini botanist. No other season is better suited to this than autumn.

Leaf detectives
First, look up: even the larch is turning golden yellow – the only conifer that changes colour in autumn and actually sheds its needles. Then, look down to where the leaves are gathered: the serrated maple leaf, the copper-brown beech leaf, and the golden needles of the larch. But why do they change colour at all? Because the tree’s preparing for winter: the green chlorophyll is drawn back into the trunk, revealing the warm colours that have been hidden away all summer. And because autumn is also playtime, here’s a little tip: carefully unfold a maple seed and wear it as a fun nose clip.

Red treasures along the way
Now, keep an eye out for anything red! On the rowan tree, whole clusters of bright red berries glisten – not for us humans to eat raw, but a feast for blackbirds and thrushes. A little further on grows the rosehip, the fruit of the wild rose: it’s packed with vitamin C and makes a lovely tea. Inside, there are tiny hairs from which the famous itching powder is made. Who can collect the most red treasures?

Eyes open, hands off
Some plants are beautiful, but only to look at. The toadstool, for example: a bright red mushroom with white spots, just like in a picture book. But be careful: it’s poisonous. The same goes for the autumn crocus, which peeks out of the autumn meadow in delicate lilac, like a stray greeting from spring. That’s why the golden rule of real botanists applies: observe it, identify it, photograph it, but never put anything in your mouth that you’re not absolutely sure about. That’s how exploring becomes fun.

And at the end, press your finest finds into a booklet. Your very own autumn herbarium is ready. There’s even more nature to discover around the Familienhotels Südtirol, because a new adventure awaits on every doorstep.

The Wachtler family
Post Alpina – Family Mountain Chalets

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