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.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Favourite Lichens Twofer
Day 155: No hike on the South Swofford Trail is complete without stopping to admire the Menegazzia terebrata, a greenish-grey foliose lichen whose lobes are perforated, supplying its common name of "Tree Flute." It's one of my favourites, and as I think about it, I suspect that my preference for certain lichen species may be based in the sound of their names. What a mellifluous word is "Menegazzia!" I was rolling it around on my tongue as I circled each Red Alder alongside the trail, looking for the optimal specimen to photograph, rejecting those which were too dry or in too much sun, when around on the shady north face of one tree I spotted this small rosette. Then I noticed another favourite, Graphis scripta, aka Script Lichen, its short, black lirellae etched into the bark like graffiti. "It's a twofer!" I said. "It doesn't get any better than this!" Okay, I admit I'm easily amused, but the South Swofford Trail never ceased to supply me with objects of interest, no matter when I walk it, or how many times. More will be appearing in my posts over the coming days.
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