I was out taking my camera for a walk when I saw the coolest dew formation I had ever seen so of course I was setting up the camera to take all sorts of angles, because well, that’s what I do.

I have since learned that very cool arrangement of water droplets was, in fact, not dew but something called guttation. This refers to the secretion of xylem droplets from the tips or edges of leaves in certain vascular plants, including grasses, and is distinct from dew.

Simply put vascular plants are plants have xylem for moving water and minerals throughout the plant. The water is from xylem - the main water transport tissue in a plant. Usually, extra water escapes through tiny holes in the plant’s leaves and stem called stomata.

So what is happening through evaporation of moisture through these holes is that a vacuum is created that pulls water and nutrients in the roots up against the pull of gravity and throughout the plant. This process is called transpiration. Transpiration stops at night when the stomata close, but the plant is still drawing in extra moisture through the roots and building up pressure to force nutrients upward. Day or night, there is constant motion inside a plant.

The pressure of this new moisture pushes out the moisture that is already in the leaves, resulting in those little beads of water.

Transpiration is responsible for the circulation of sugars and soluble minerals throughout the plant, but only pure water is lost as water vapor. So for years I was ignorantly confusing what I was seeing by just assuming these droplets were dew.

Guttation is confused with dew drops. The difference between the two is that (as we know) dew is formed on the plant’s surface from the condensation of moisture in the air while guttation, is moisture emitted from the plant itself. I had no idea and I still wouldn’t know if I hadn’t accidentally stumbled across a post on Facebook. I thought at first they were my images until I clicked on the gardening site answering a gardener’s questions about her houseplants and this phenomenon.

Guttation can be a sign of an overwatered plant since the saturated roots pressure the rest of the plant. This pressure forces the plant to exude its excess moisture (and nutrients) in the form of sap. Cut back on watering, and your plant should stop releasing sap.

At the plant swap that is coming up here at the center on Oct. 7, I plan to ask my gardening guru, Linda Gehres, if she knows about this. I am secretly crossing my fingers that I can share something with her that she doesn’t know.

The plant swap is a great way to learn more about gardening, native plants and a wonderful way to share information with each other. You do not have to bring plants to rehome plants. This event is free and you do not have to register.

For more information about the plant swap, call the center at 570-645-8597.

Jeannie Carl is a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill. For information on CCEEC, visit www.carboneec.org.