Scleroderma Areolatum, Earthball

Day 336: It has been quite a while since I had a botanical puzzle which required breaking out the microscope, but with several look-alike Scleroderma species, the determining factor for an identification rested upon the spores. I've been watching the growth of some odd "puffballs" (clarification will come later in this post) under the contorted filbert for over a week now. They were much larger than any I'd ever seen, three inches or so in diameter. One finally developed a single apical pore (also diagnostic in making a correct ID), venting its spores through the opening. I settled in with my references, but found myself frustrated by the similarity of several species. One book specific to the Pacific Northwest suggested Scleroderma verrucosum, but checking for possible synonyms in a more reliable source told me that species does not occur here. I got out a bigger metaphorical "shovel," knowing that I'd have to do deeper digging if I was to solve this mycological mystery. In the end, I learned that the spores were key. If they were spiky like the covid virus, the "puffball" was Scleroderma areolatum. If they were smooth, I might as well give up. Fortunately, at 1000x magnification, the spikes were visible, and what I had was not a puffball, but an Earthball, somewhat unusual and not previously recorded in Pierce County. I love it when I find botanical mysteries in my own back yard!

Darkfield

Day 27: It occurred to me that I hadn't properly introduced Darkfield to my readers, so with today being another Pacific Northwest Classic (i.e., rain and gloom), I grabbed a little botanical material and some of the tools of the trade to keep him company in this presentation. Darkfield microscopy employs a special condenser below the stage to focus light in such a manner that that which is directly transmitted does not enter the objective, only scattered light from the specimen. The specimen appears on a dark background rather than the bright field seen through a standard microscope. Specimen features invisible in brightfield may become visible in darkfield. The darkfield 'scope is definitely a step up for me, and since I bought it, not a day has passed that I didn't use it to examine something.

Rainy-Day Adventures

Day 20: It's the time of the year when I struggle to find interesting material for my daily posts. That's not to say there's nothing interesting going on in my life. Indeed, I have lots of things to keep me occupied, and right now, the darkfield microscope is pretty close to the top of the list. As a direct result of its acquisition, it's been necessary for me to practice with the microtome to perfect my technique. I've also had to re-learn how to pull stains effectively. Although my pond-water samples haven't yielded up any particularly exciting results, I've found plenty of other things to play with. This morning's exercise was performed on a horseradish leaf stalk. The top four images show a cross-section stained with methylene blue, an unstained longitudinal section, an 800x view of the nuclear material in the same section, and another longitudinal section stained with eosin. The lower row shows an eosin-stained longitudinal section of an iris leaf, unstained epithelial tissue taken from the inside of my cheek, a smear of butter which shows the fat globules, and a piece of pear skin stained with methylene blue. The butter smear reminds me of Aboriginal art!

Carex Under Scrutiny

Day 2: When a rarity is discovered, it is not enough to simply document it and move on. One must seize the opportunity for further investigation in the hopes of bringing something previously unknown or unnoticed to light. In the case of a botanical find, this often involves repeated trips to the site, pulling in various outside experts, analyzing anything and everything which might be a contributing factor in the species' preference for a specific location or ecology.

Since I was clearly out of my depth when it came to sedge identification, our Park plant ecologist took it upon himself to "bone up" on the subject and go into the field with technical manuals in hand. Once he had obtained a specimen of a likely host for the rare fungus we discovered earlier in the year, he sent his findings along to me to see if the same questions were raised in my mind. Indeed they were! He brought me a sample of the sedge so that I could take photos of it through the microscope to validate his ID. A lot of "ifs" followed in our ensuing emails and personal conversations, largely based around the evidence that this is the only sedge at one of the fungus sites. IF we can demonstrate that it hosts the fungus, it will be the first record of Myrio parasitizing this species of Carex. Unfortunately, my minute dissection of all parts of the specimen failed to yield up the slightest trace of the fungus on this individual plant.

Exploring Strange New Worlds

Day 25: When the mechanical stage arrived yesterday, it occurred to me that although I've featured photos of what I've seen through the new microscope so far, I hadn't properly introduced my new toy. Suffice to say that I am delighted with it, particularly because it allows me to share images with my readers, letting them explore strange new worlds right alongside me.

For those of you who are detail-oriented, it is an AmScope M200. It came with two eyepieces, 10x and 25x. The available magnifications are 40x, 100x, 250x, 400x and 100x (a duplicate occurs when changing eyepieces because 10 x 10 = 4 x 25). The 0.3mp camera which came with the 'scope replaces the eyepiece and seems to give a higher magnification yet, but I am not certain of the factor. Admittedly, that's pretty low-end despite what you might think from the images I've posted so far, and therefore I intend to upgrade to a 2.0-3.0mp camera at some point (maybe a birthday present-to-self). An X-acto knife set serves as my dissecting kit, and of course I have a selection of petri dishes, slides and stains waiting for specimens.

As for the mechanical stage, at high magnification, it is almost impossible to move a slide with any degree of accuracy by hand. The mechanical stage holds the slide firmly and with the twist of a knob, allows it to be moved laterally or side-to-side with precision. The tissue can therefore be centered in the field of view so that when moving to a stronger objective, only minor adjustments need to be made.

Back when I was in high school, this 'scope would have qualified as "professional grade." Technology has put science in the reach of almost everyone, so what are you waiting for? Go exploring!

Mama's Got A Brand-New Toy

Day 17 (Bonus Edition!): I've had my microscope since I was in my twenties, so it really shouldn't have come as any surprise that I couldn't get the optics clean no matter how hard I tried, so after I'd worked on it pointlessly for an hour and a half, what this year's Christmas-present-to-self should became clear. I spent the next several days comparing brands and models, studying options, coming to the realization that technology had outpaced me by several decades, and deciding that if I wanted to be serious about this, I'd better "get with the program," as they say. I started with a rough budget which, in the end, wound up being slightly more than double what I'd planned, but in addition to ordering a better grade of microscope, I also purchased a camera attachment for it.

I was more than a little nervous about installing the software; nothing ever seems to go the way it should when I mess with computers, but within ten minutes of the time the 'scope arrived, I was capturing my first images from a selection of prepared slides. The more I fiddled with the focus knobs, the more I realized just how feeble my old 'scope had been. I have much greater control, much better focus, and the optics are crystal clear (even if the prepared slides seem to have included miscellaneous grit and fuzzies). The tungsten lamp is bright (my old 'scope employed a mirror). I have yet to install the second, more powerful eyepiece! These photos were taken on 40-400x magnification. The second eyepiece boosts that to 1000x! Look out, lichens! Mama's got a brand-new toy!

Here At Lichen Labs...

Day 1 of Year Six: Yes, I've decided to continue 365 Caws for another year if the Fates and Google will allow. Hard to believe I've been at this project for five years already. So, without further ado...

Here at Lichen Labs, we have entered a new phase in the tricky business of lichen identification, i.e., chemical testing. There are only a few qualifying reagents available to the home scientist, among them household bleach (the "C test") and caustic soda, aka lye (the "K test"). Both need to be handled with care to prevent chemical burns or degradation of materials from accidental contact.

To perform the tests, a small amount of reagent is applied to a specific section of lichen and then the tissue is examined under a microscope in order to observe any changes in colour. Even the simplest test can be useful in separating one genus from another, perhaps even one species from another. More sophisticated tests can be performed in a professional laboratory if one is available. Of course, a well-trained observer may be able to differentiate species by eye, but for the neophyte, a determination confirmed by chemical means is always best.