I absolutely adore lichen and mosses. They are so beautiful up close. When I go out for hikes and runs, I bring a small jewelers hand glass with me to look at all the mosses and lichen up close. They are like their own little micro ecosystem and mini forests. I love them so much!
This is a fascinating post. Lichens catch my attention especially in winter when there's not much color around. I've never really bothered to learn their scientific names, but in my mind I give them poetic names, like rock rose for the first one you featured. The most interesting lichen I found in the desert southwest and I created a blog post with invented names like "bird poop lichen." https://beautyalongtheroad.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/minimalism-i/
Thank you! I love the poetic names. I have made up common names for some things myself, especially if they don't seem to have a common name. (I call Trentepohlia on trees "Muppet fluff," for example.) In the Southeast we have a lichen called Bulging Martian Eyes.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photo essay. I especially love the red rock and blue sky; it makes me miss the West from my travels a long time ago.
Wonderful photos and I appreciated the tips at the end for identification. I had no idea that some lichen fluoresce under UV lights and I'm excited to bring my own magnifying glass and UV light on future hikes!
And "shelfy" is a pretty good word for that, though I have no idea what the official term is. I just call it layered!
Thank you! It's so much fun seeing them fluoresce. I'm looking forward to reading what you find! The past couple weeks I've been exploring just around my house and neighborhood, but between a hand lens and UV flashlight, I haven't run out of things to see. (I'm working on a post right now about finding springtails and other tiny stuff in dirt and decaying organic matter.)
Thank you! That line was the only thing I had written on the day of — I take notes when I go for walks and try to write at least one observation a day. I have paragraphs from other days of the trip but this one I had a hundred photos of lichens and just the one sentence!
What a wonderful essay and beautiful photos, thank you! While visiting a nature center in Florida, I was told that lichen will not grow in a heavily polluted atmosphere (I'm unable to find a reliable, written source to back that up).
And Sarah, "Shelfy" works, I think. A link is posted below for more about shelf rock formations. I think of them as geology's equivalent to tree growth rings. In Kansas they hold fossil's that are millions of years old. Next time you travel west through Kansas on Interstate 70, visit the Sternberg Museum in Hays, and/or the Keystone Gallery south of I-70 at Oakley (Hyw 83). Their fossilized marine life collections stir our imagination about an ocean world that existed here long ago.
Thank you, for the compliment and the information! The more I learn from you, the more I'm looking forward to the next time I drive through Kansas (with stops next time.) I'm saving your recommendations in my Notes app for the next road trip west.
I had forgotten, when I wrote this post, about lichens and air pollution. You reminded me that when I first learned about them in school, the teacher said they are an indicator species and that a lot of them in an area is a sign of good air. It's interesting that we have a good amount in Atlanta even though we regularly get air quality warnings in the summer. Perhaps our city species are heartier and/or something else about or environment helps keep the air from getting too bad.
I too am in love with lichens. They are such strange life-forms and so beautiful. I wish I were in Atlanta to go see the trout lilies. As you know, Sarah, I highly recommend your wonderful Substack.
Thank you, and thank you for the restack! I'm hoping to write something about lichens of our region in the near future, and to make a trout lily trip soon. While I could just go to Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, I am also dreaming of Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve in South Georgia. 💛
Gorgeous pictures of the lichens!
Thank you!
Thank you for the teaching and beautiful photos!
Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it!
I absolutely adore lichen and mosses. They are so beautiful up close. When I go out for hikes and runs, I bring a small jewelers hand glass with me to look at all the mosses and lichen up close. They are like their own little micro ecosystem and mini forests. I love them so much!
This is a fascinating post. Lichens catch my attention especially in winter when there's not much color around. I've never really bothered to learn their scientific names, but in my mind I give them poetic names, like rock rose for the first one you featured. The most interesting lichen I found in the desert southwest and I created a blog post with invented names like "bird poop lichen." https://beautyalongtheroad.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/minimalism-i/
Thank you! I love the poetic names. I have made up common names for some things myself, especially if they don't seem to have a common name. (I call Trentepohlia on trees "Muppet fluff," for example.) In the Southeast we have a lichen called Bulging Martian Eyes.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photo essay. I especially love the red rock and blue sky; it makes me miss the West from my travels a long time ago.
Wonderful photos and I appreciated the tips at the end for identification. I had no idea that some lichen fluoresce under UV lights and I'm excited to bring my own magnifying glass and UV light on future hikes!
And "shelfy" is a pretty good word for that, though I have no idea what the official term is. I just call it layered!
Thank you! It's so much fun seeing them fluoresce. I'm looking forward to reading what you find! The past couple weeks I've been exploring just around my house and neighborhood, but between a hand lens and UV flashlight, I haven't run out of things to see. (I'm working on a post right now about finding springtails and other tiny stuff in dirt and decaying organic matter.)
Loved this up-close look at lichens ... and your description of glittering windows scattered across the mountain like mica on a stone.
Thank you! That line was the only thing I had written on the day of — I take notes when I go for walks and try to write at least one observation a day. I have paragraphs from other days of the trip but this one I had a hundred photos of lichens and just the one sentence!
What a wonderful essay and beautiful photos, thank you! While visiting a nature center in Florida, I was told that lichen will not grow in a heavily polluted atmosphere (I'm unable to find a reliable, written source to back that up).
And Sarah, "Shelfy" works, I think. A link is posted below for more about shelf rock formations. I think of them as geology's equivalent to tree growth rings. In Kansas they hold fossil's that are millions of years old. Next time you travel west through Kansas on Interstate 70, visit the Sternberg Museum in Hays, and/or the Keystone Gallery south of I-70 at Oakley (Hyw 83). Their fossilized marine life collections stir our imagination about an ocean world that existed here long ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedimentary_rock
Thank you, for the compliment and the information! The more I learn from you, the more I'm looking forward to the next time I drive through Kansas (with stops next time.) I'm saving your recommendations in my Notes app for the next road trip west.
I had forgotten, when I wrote this post, about lichens and air pollution. You reminded me that when I first learned about them in school, the teacher said they are an indicator species and that a lot of them in an area is a sign of good air. It's interesting that we have a good amount in Atlanta even though we regularly get air quality warnings in the summer. Perhaps our city species are heartier and/or something else about or environment helps keep the air from getting too bad.
Thank you for the walk in the woods with lichens. Gorgeous photos and descriptions!
Thank you!
I too am in love with lichens. They are such strange life-forms and so beautiful. I wish I were in Atlanta to go see the trout lilies. As you know, Sarah, I highly recommend your wonderful Substack.
Thank you, and thank you for the restack! I'm hoping to write something about lichens of our region in the near future, and to make a trout lily trip soon. While I could just go to Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, I am also dreaming of Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve in South Georgia. 💛