Platismatia Herrei

Day 99: Although I have read nothing to support it, I think of Platismatia herrei (Tattered Rag Lichen) as a canopy species based on personal observation. I generally find it after wind or snow storms when material is brought down from the overstory, as was the case here. If you had asked me if P. herrei occurred on my property, I'd have said no until this morning when, on a routine patrol for "blog shots," I found a bit of it under Big Doug, the enormous Douglas-fir in the northwest corner of my yard. Whether it fell from Big Doug or the smaller Pseudotsuga which stands next to him, I can't say, but I suspect they may both harbour the lichen, tangled as they are in each others' evergreen arms. Who knows? Maybe they even have Kidneys (Nephroma helveticum) up there in their crowns. Now that would be a pleasant surprise!

Canopy Lichens

Day 87: Winter storms do a lot of damage, but in some ways, they are beneficial to the overall ecology. Browsing wildlife such as deer and elk may find foraging difficult when the ground is snow-covered and new, tender vegetation has not yet begun to sprout. When winds rage through the woods, breaking branches and bringing them down to the forest floor, this puts another food source at the animals' level: lichens, and specifically "canopy lichens" such as this specimen of Platismatia herrei. It's also a good time for lichenologists who are too old to strap on tree-climbing spikes.

Until yesterday, I had only found examples of Platismatia herrei at one location along a loop trail measuring one mile in length. I suspected it existed elsewhere within the property which, as a matter of fact, has multiple small and interesting pocket ecologies within its confines. I was delighted when, not more than a hundred yards from my customary entrance point and well removed from the known site, I found this lovely globose specimen at my feet. That set me to looking more closely, and indeed, I found many more examples of the lichen along my walk. Herrei does not grow exclusively in the canopy, although that seems to be its preference at this location. It is commonly known as Tattered Rag, and is easily the laciest in appearance, at least here in the Pacific Northwest.

Platismatia Herrei

Day 85: If Platismatia herrei has taught me a lesson, it is that a single experience may lead us into erroneous suppositions, and consequently, may affect how we respond in the future. My prior encounters with Tattered Rag Lichen (cousin to Platismatia glauca, "Ragbag") were with specimens which had been delivered to the forest floor by windstorms. The erroneous "ergo" was the assumption that they were a species of the upper canopy, and if I wanted to see the lichen in situ, I'd have to work on my tree-climbing skills. However, while I was searching for a better example of Bloody Heart than the one I presented yesterday, I stumbled across a veritable forest of herrei at eye level. Admittedly, the examples hanging from almost every tree trunk were not the lovely globose shape you'd find occurring where the lichen could expand horizontally over a supporting framework of finer twigs, but they were certainly herrei and, even more surprisingly, the dominant species in this one corner of Mount Rainier's woods. Unfortunately, I did not have a GPSr with me, so I painted a mental X on the side of the metaphorical boat so I can find the location again. Thanks for the wake-up call, herrei; objectivity is a tough tool to keep honed.