365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Friday, December 14, 2018
Renamed As Sphaerophorus Tuckermanii
Day 62: The snowy forests of the Pacific Northwest are not as lifeless as they appear on first glance. In fact, the cold season is when lichens are at their prime: growing, fruiting, propagating. In the vacancy left by the showier vascular plants, lichens emerge as the "wildflowers" of winter, displaying apothecia plump with the spores of reproduction. Their colours brighten with the hues of health, the greens and blue-greens unlike anything seen during the drier summer months.
Formerly known as Sphaerophorus globosus, this graceful and common lichen was split into two species recently, S. tuckermanii (shown above) and S. venerabilis, based on research by Wedin, et al. and published in "The Lichenologist" (the quarterly journal of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society). It has several sub-species which are visually identical and can only be differentiated with chemical testing and microscopic examination. Yes, those pesky taxonomists have struck again, damn their eyes.
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