I Know This Botanist...

...who asked if we ate any red snow in the mountains. In fact we saw red snow. Ever the microbiologist myself, my first thought was microbes. Ever the videogamer, the Goob's first thought was the blood of sledriders who had gone before us. He made and threw a few red snow balls, but we applied what we already knew about eating colored snow and did not even try the red variety. Here is what I now know about red snow:

Watermelon snow, also called snow algae, is snow that is reddish or pink in color, with the slight scent of a fresh watermelon. This type of snow is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide.
Watermelon snow is caused by the presence mainly of Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of green algae containing a secondary red carotenoid pigment (astaxanthin) in addition to chlorophyll. Unlike most species of fresh-water algae, it is cryophilic (cold-loving) and thrives in freezing water.

And I guess it is okay to eat it, because the botanist says it tastes like watermelon. So the next time I am sled riding in summer, I will at least smell the red snow.

While we are on the subject of botany, this is my way cool flame plant watered with miracle-gro.

This is an identical plant watered with white vinegar (which looks a lot like water). I'm not much of a botanist, but I advise against watering with vinegar.