Day 121: I'll give you the punchline first: I have no idea what this is, although I think I can safely say it's a lichen. The shape suggest that it's a Cladonia, and the broken upper cortex (the outer layer of the thallus) would seem to support that assumption. However, the algal layer is poorly developed, making it almost snow-white. At first I thought it might have been fungal because I thought I was observing peridioles in the cup. At least that's what they looked like through the camera lens, but I was not satisfied that I was seeing them, so I went back in the house for a magnifier. I never think to grab a kneeling pad when I'm excited about finding something strange. No, I went back out and knelt right down in the soggy, cold moss so that I could put my eye to the glass for an up-close-and-personal look. The inner surface appeared grainy...oh, you know...like broken lichen cortex, d'uh!...and then I looked further down the stipe where the lower cortex was revealed in reddish patches. But muddy knees couldn't pay a better dividend than that. I will simply have to keep an eye on the area over the next few weeks to see how it matures. Oh, by the way, if you're ever over for a visit, don't disturb any of the little stakes poking up in various places around my yard. Those are markers telling me I need to follow up.
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