Deptford Pinks

Day 278: Perhaps my favourite of all the various things which have surfaced in commercial "wildflower" mixes, Deptford Pinks add a delightfully bright note despite the fact that the flowers are relatively small (smaller than Rose Campion) and are borne at the tops of thready 18" stems. I think the freckles are what make this member of the Dianthus family so winsome, or maybe it's the "pinked" edges of the petals which look as if they were cut out with pinking shears. The enticing etymological rabbit hole evoked by the term "pink" yields up nothing definitive with respect to the flower, although "to pink" means "to make holes by piercing with a sharp instrument," which to my way of thinking (although entirely unsupported) might refer to the resemblance of the freckles to small perforations. Trypophobics beware! You might want to think twice before planting Deptford Pinks in your garden!

Lecanora Pacifica, Multicolored Rim Lichen

Day 40: If you are in the slightest way trypophobic, I apologize for today's post. My mother was one of those people who got the heebie-jeebies if she saw pinholes in paper or little bumps on the surface of something, so I'm sure she would have run screaming from Lecanora pacifica, one of the most common Lecanoras to be found in the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps fortunately for her, the disks of this species are quite small, i.e., 0.7-1.2 mm, demonstrated here with my handy-dandy measurin' stick for reference. Multicolored Rim Lichen prefers smooth deciduous bark as its substrate, notably that of Red Alder and some willows. In my area, it's most commonly seen on alder. The centers of the disks give it its common name; in any given patch, they may range from yellowish through black. Each apothecial disk is emphasized by a prominent rim of light grey-green. I think they're quite attractive, but obviously, I did not inherit the gene for trypophobia.

Trypophobia

Day 30: This will sort out which of my readers are trypophobic! The term describes an irrational dread/fear of small holes or bumps, and Lecanora pacifica's apothecia certainly qualify as the latter. Tiny, they rarely exceed 1.2mm, so it takes a good eye to find them even though they are common on alders in the Pacific Northwest. The lichen thallus (body) is white or yellowish, and the apothecia may appear in a range of shades from pale pinkish-yellow to almost black. Some disks may exhibit more than one colour. I never walk the Bud Blancher trail without checking this tree. I guess I must not be trypophobic.