This is the 15th year of continuous daily publication for 365Caws. All things considered, it's likely it will be the last year as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find interesting material. However, I hope that I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world with my natural history posts, or encouraged a novice weaver or needleworker. If so, I've done what I set out to do.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Graphic Script
Day 156: We all have our favourites. They don't have to be rare, special or otherwise distinguished. We just like them for one reason or another. Graphis scripta (Common Script) is one of my favourite lichens. It's tiny to the point of being hard to spot even when you have your face a foot from the trunk of a Red Alder you know you've found it on before, so it should be no surprise that the people who walked past me as I was crouched on my knees photographing it wondered what I found so fascinating about grey bark. It looks exactly like marks made with a sharp pencil until you get closer. Then you can see that the black lines are split lengthwise. These are the lirellae, the fruiting bodies of the lichen. The thallus (body) is what makes the bark look grey where it occurs. Other crustose lichens may also impart a grey appearance to the bark of Red Alder, so if you're hunting for secret messages from Lichenopolis, you'll have to make a close examination to find the code.
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