Lichens And Morris Dancers

Day 152: You'd think it would be pretty hard to make a connection between lichens and Morris dancers in a single post, but here you have it. Sound & Fury observes a winter holiday tradition we call "the Mistletoe Faerie." You probably have something similar in your workplace. Some time before Christmas, names are drawn for a gift exchange, no person to know exactly who their representative from the Mistletoe Fey is until Twelfth Night (or the nearest practice date) when the gifts are delivered. Several factors caused me to miss six weeks of practice, including the critical gift exchange. When I returned this past Monday, my Mistletoe Faerie delivered her gift. I'd forgotten about the plea I'd put out on Facebook for Daphnie Stone's "aide memoire" to the Usneas of the area and was surprised and overjoyed when I unwrapped it. Yesterday, I gave it a field test. I needed a walk and decided to take an overgrown side trail of Nisqually-Mashel State Park, an Usnea-rich area if ever there was one. Field guide in hand, I was able to put a name to a species which has puzzled me in the past. Usnea flavocardia is identified by its fibril, pinched at the base like the tip of a cigar, as well as the presence of little red dots on the thallus. Thank you, Mistletoe Faerie, and thank you, Mistletoe Fey for...well, you know, that other thing.