A couple of posts ago I showed what I suspected was a lichen that I found growing on a pine log. Though it felt fleshy like a fungus I had the idea in my mind that it “should be” a lichen, and so when I got home I looked through hundreds (literally) of lichen photos with no luck identifying it. Luckily Rick from the Between Blinks Blog had seen examples before and knew it to be a crust fungus called Phlebia radiata, or wrinkled crust fungus. These curious fungi lay flat on whatever they grow on much like crustose lichens would, and radiate out from a central point. They have no stem or gills or pores. Most interesting about them to me are the various bright shades of pink and orange they display. This is a fungus that doesn’t mind cool weather, so it is often seen at this time of year. Thanks again for the ID Rick!
So let’s see, this one I showed in a post from about a month ago is orange like a fungus, grows on stone like a lichen, and is hairy like a moss. I guessed that it might be some kind of strange orange moss, but I’d never seen anything like it. If I hadn’t stumbled across it online while searching for something else I never would have guessed that it was actually a green algae called Trentepohlia aurea. I know, I said the same thing-“it isn’t green, it’s orange.” These algae get their bright orange color from a pigment known as hematochrome, which forms in nitrogen starved algae and protects and hides the algae’s green chlorophyll. It can be orange, yellow or red and it also colors some lichens, making their identification even more difficult.
Bristly beard lichen (Usnea hirta) is often found on the ground but it doesn’t grow there; the wind blows them out of the trees. Many lichens like sunlight and grow in the tops of trees where there is less shade from the leaves. Native Americans used lichens medicinally for thousands of years and lichens in the Usnea group were described in the first Chinese herbal, written about 500 AD. Today scientists estimate that about 50% of all lichen species have antibiotic properties.
Last year I found fringed wrinkle lichens (Tuckermannopsis Americana) growing in a birch tree near a pond and they are still there this year. The color of this lichen varies greatly from when it is wet or dry, but its wrinkled surface and the way that its fruiting bodies (Apothecia) appear on the lobe margins help identify it. The purple dye used to color the togas of the rich and famous in ancient Rome came from lichens, and many other dye colors can also be extracted from them. Some of the rich colors used in Scottish “Harris Tweed” also come from lichens.
The seed capsule of this Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora) split open to release its seeds. The seeds are so small as to be nearly microscopic, and are wind borne. Each plant will release thousands of seeds, but if they don’t fall in exactly the right conditions, they won’t grow. Indian pipes need both the right fungi and the right tree roots to grow because they don’t photosynthesize and make their own food. Instead they parasitize both the fungi and the trees they grow on.
Cattail (Typha latifolia) seeds are also borne on the wind, but there will be plenty left when the female red wing blackbirds come back in the spring. They and many other birds use the seeds to line their nests. Native Americans had uses for every part of this plant and one of their names for cattail meant “fruit for papoose’s bed.” Even the pollen was harvested and used in bread.
Some of the information on Native American uses for cattails used here comes from the folks at The International Secret Society of People Who Sleep with Cattail Pillows. No, I’m not kidding. Their motto is “You’ll Do Good Deeds, If You Sleep on Seeds!”
This tiny mushroom was all dried out but its dime sized cap had plenty of pores on its underside that were worth taking a look at. These pores are tubes where the mushroom’s spores are produced. Mushrooms with pores instead of gills are called boletes. If a shelf or bracket fungus has pores it is called a polypore.
Broom Moss (Dicranum scoparium) is a North American native that grows on soil, stones or logs, but I usually find it on the ground in semi shaded places that don’t get strong sunlight. The scoparium part of the scientific name comes from the Latin scopae, which means “broom” and the common name broom moss comes from the way that all of the curved leaf tips point in the same direction, looking as if someone swept them with a broom. Scopae also describes the brush like hairs used to collect pollen that are found on the abdomens and legs of some bees.
When you come upon a tree that looks like this in the forest you might think that a bear had gone after it, but this damage was caused by a woodpecker-a Pileated woodpecker, to be exact. I see trees that look like this all of the time, and have even seen trees cut in half with their top on the ground. I wish I had gotten the large pile of woodchips at the base of the tree in this photo, but I wasn’t thinking.
The fruit of an Eastern juniper (Juniperus virginiana) looks like a berry but it is actually a soft, fleshy cone. They are a deep, bluish purple color but are covered with a white wax coating that makes them appear lighter blue. The most common uses for the “berries” are as flavoring for cooked game or to flavor gin. Native Americans used them medicinally and in food.
Mount Monadnock has had its first snowfall, though the bright sunshine almost hides that fact in this photo. Once the snow really starts to fly bare granite won’t be seen up there again until late spring. I decided to climb to the summit one warm April day years ago and had to wade / crawl through waist deep snow. By the time I made it back down several hours later I looked like I had been swimming with my clothes on and even had to pour water out of my wallet and shoes. Climbing with no snowshoes was a foolish and dangerous thing to do, but at 18 I wasn’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer.
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
~A.E. Housman
Thanks for stopping in.
Nice Post Allen, along with some impressive photos!
Glad to be able to help out with the crust fungus ID. Thanks for the mention! Just returning the favor for several IDs you and your site have helped me with. It seems New Hampshire contains many of the same species as we have here in Washington State. And you like posting many of the same things I am interested in. That makes your site one of the first that I go to when I am struggling to figure out what something is.
I couldn’t help but notice that this post contains several organisms that have found creative ways to deal with the matter of photosynthesis.
The one I am especially interested in is the “green algae”. It really shows how nature can take many paths to get the same result. I have never heard of this algae before. But I do believe I may have taken a photo of Trentepohlia aurea up on Mt Rainier this summer. I know when I got around to including it in a post, I would have spent days looking through photos of lichens in order to figure out what it was. Thanks again Allen!
Best wishes to you for the coming new year.
Thanks Rick.
I don’t know how long I might have spent trying to identify that crust fungus without your help, but I have spent years on others so it was very welcome.
The (orange) green algae is very strange, but fascinating. I stumbled onto it on another website and was very lucky to be able to identify it so quickly. I have better photos of it that will be in an upcoming post. It’s very hairy!
I’m glad that I’ve been able to help with some of your IDs. When we all help each other, we all learn, so it’s a great thing.
I hope you have a great Christmas and a happy New Year. Thanks again.
I’ve seen that orange-colored green algae on rocks here too- always wondered what that was!
Man, that tree was mauled by the Pileateds- that’s something else!
I probably never would have solved the riddle of the orange moss if I hadn’t stunbled on to the answer.
I see trees and logs that have been shredded to bits by pileated woodpeckers all the time. They really go to town if the wood is rotten enough.
What an interesting and instructive post. I had noticed that Bristly beard lichen never seemed to be attached to the ground. Now I know why!
Thank you. Many other types of lichens fall out of the trees in windy weather too.
Fascinating, as always. I’d heard vaguely that dyes could be made from lichens. I can imagine, in years past, that lichen being gathered on the Isle of Harris for their dyes.
Thanks. Yes, lichens were gathered in Scotland right up until 1997. Thy used to scrape what they called crottle off the rocks there, and that led to the saying “Cattle on the hills, Gold on the stones.”
Awesome stroll
Thanks!
Interesting, informative and beautiful post!
Thanks Montucky!
I’ve been thinking lately that your blogs should be published in a book. This blog confirms it. I would sure buy it.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ve thought about it, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.
You have such a natural ability that just flows. Your pictures are amazing. Photography is just Greek to me. I can do what I need to do and that’s all.
Thanks again. I’ve done a lot of photography since back in the film days, but I’m nowhere near a professional photographer. I just show here what I like to see.
I love the view of the mountain over the lake. I hope we will see it when the snow is deep on the summit.
Yes, It’s one of my favorite views and I show it quite regularly.
Wow, i have yearned for a pileated woodpecker to make itself at home in my yard but now I’m not so sure! I may have to be satisfied with my downies, hairies, and northern flickers. Some of those lichens are fascinating but a little creepy!
Apparently woodpeckers drum to attract a mate, and my daughter had one in her neighborhood that found a metal roof that amplified his druming. Just like a rooster, he had to drum on that roof at sunup every day. I wonder if it was a pileated woodpecker.
The lichen in that first shot reminds me of these creatures in Star Trek that flew out of the shadows and landed on Spock and sent some kind of tentacles into his brain.
I think most of us look back on our teenage years and wonder how we survived. (That is when we aren’t cringing with embarrassment.) If we don’t push the limits, we never find out what our limits are.
That’s true Jim. I think I pushed in several different directions to find my limits.
Such interesting pictures.
Thank you Susan.
I never knew that juniper “berries” were actually cones, but it does make sense. I loved the cattail and Mount Monadnock photos in particular.
At eighteen, most of us have more energy than brains, it’s a wonder that most of us survived.
I think that I will leave trying to ID mosses, lichens, and fungi to other people, such as yourself, and just enjoy their beauty, even if that means that there will be times that I stare at them, wondering what they are, and their lifecycle.
Thanks Jerry! Yes, the juniper is a conifer. It is odd that a cone would look so much like a berry, but it could have something to do with attracting birds. I read that a juniper seed that has passed through a cedar waxwing has someting like an 88% better chance of germinating than one that hasn’t.
I honestly do feel sometimes that It’s a miricle that I survived my teen years.
I don’t blame you at all for leaving the IDing to others-it can be very difficult and can sometimes take months to figure out.
I’ve missed seeing your posts, Allen. The images are lovely. I especially like the Bristly Beard Lichen. The photograph is so clear, and the color so rich.
Thank you Melanie. I hope you’re well and won’t be seeing any episodes of pnuemonia this winter. My little grand niece has had it twice already in the space of 4 months. Stay warm!
Your narration is truly marvelous–entertaining and informative. The photos are great too. I didn’t realize the juniper “berry” was actually a fleshy cone. Is this what I see robins and cedar wax wing eating? Or something else bluish?
Thanks Sue! I’ve read that cedar waxwings especially love juniper berries. I wouldn’t be surprised if robins did too, but I don’t know that for certain. It does seem strange that a cone could look so much like a berry, but junipers are conifers.
Enjoyed your post, thanks for the info on the mystery fungus!
Thank you. It’s great when we work together!
I have been chasing a lot of woodpeckers recently and had no idea they could do the kind of damage that you show in your photo–the pileated is quite a monster, it seems. As is often the case, I chuckled when I read the name of some of the things you observed and focused, like Beard Lichen and Fringed Wrinkle Lichen. The names fit, but are not exactly poetic.
Yes, if you Google “woodpecker trees” you’ll see some amazing things! I wish I could find a book that told of what person named what plant, and what they were thinking when they did. Some of them really are funny and others don’t seem to describe the plant at all.
Fun y the things you see when you really look a d reading your post certainly gets me looking. That broom moss is great, like messy hair dyed green.
I’m glad these posts get you looking-that’s what they’re really all about.
I can identify with your 18 maturity.
Yes, intelligence seemed hard to come by back then. Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t just as elusive today.
Great to see that you are still finding cool things despite the impending winter. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and photography with us all. I always look forward to your posts!
Thanks Laura, as I do yours. I always wonder what town you’ll visit next!