Day 112: Lichens rock! This is a younger example of Polycauliona polycarpa from a different location than yesterday's rosette. Niche ecology can have an effect on many species' growth habits: presence of abundant moisture may produce a higher algal concentration, exposure to wind or polluted air may cause changes in shape, colour or size; even the presence of other lichens may affect the delicate chemistry in a lichen community. Field characteristics can be misleading in the overview, as was the case with the Polycauliona rosette I featured yesterday. Exposed to the fumes of traffic, portions of it had lost the distinctive yellow-orange colour which typifies the species.
And that said, I have spent a frustrating morning with half a dozen samples from two outings, only three of which I have managed to identify. Although I enjoy a good puzzle, I do prefer to fit all the pieces together in a tidy package. It's not happening, and I blame the political situation. Normally, I can find refuge in science, occupying my mind with the whys and wherefores, but today I am asking myself whether it's worth trying to educate a humanity which seems bent on its own destruction, and worse, set to take the planet down with it. I am finding no comfort, not even in the company of my beloved lichens.
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