Icmadophila Ericetorum, Faerie Barf

Day 61: For the most part, I tend to commit to memory the Latin nomenclature for vascular plants, fungi and lichens, but once I had seen the common name "fairy barf" applied to Icmadophila ericetorum, I could not dismiss it from my mind (and believe me, I tried). That said, I prefer an alternate spelling ("faerie") for this lichen and the weakly pink apothecia and pastel green thallus which characterize it. Since lichen common names are not standardized like the majority of those applied to vascular plants, I feel justified in taking a small liberty to afford a slight measure of dignity to the species. Bottom line? Icmadophila is one of my favourite lichens. It deserves better than it's been given.

Best Rock In The Park

Day 60: There are three known species of "matchstick" lichens in the Pacific Northwest, two of which can be found in Mount Rainier National Park. Pilophorus clavatus ("tapered matchstick," left) and Pilophorus acicularis ("devil's matchstick," right) are easy to miss because at their tallest, their thready stems do not rise more than an inch in height. Clavatus' apothecia (fruiting bodies) are elongated and club-like, supported by reddish podetia (stalks), while the knobby, round heads of acicularis cap pale green podetia. They are both pioneer species, occurring on freshly broken rock ("freshly" being defined here as a measure of decades rather than weeks). Not far from the Administration Building at Longmire, the two matchsticks can be found together on what I think of as "the best rock in the Park."

Longmire In Winter

Day 61: There was no heat in our office when Kevin and I got to work this morning. Other offices in the Administration Building were warm and toasty, but ours was uncomfortably cold and stayed that way until lunchtime. I decided it was better to freeze outside than inside, and went for a walk around the Trail of the Shadows. This view of Eagle Peak across Longmire Meadow is one of my favourites. Tiny Travertine Mound hotspring (snow-free area, lower right) burbles and bubbles even in the coldest temperatures.

The blue sky was a momentary novelty. Even as I wound my way around the three-quarter mile trail, pale grey snow-clouds were creeping up from the west. Still, slender rays of sun touched laden branches and caused them to release their burdens precipitously, and at least once, I found myself enveloped in the cold pins-and-needles of spindrift, driven on icy gusts generated in its fall. Thus baptised, I returned to the office with snow-matted pantlegs and a silvery "powdered-sugar" dusting over my remaining person, grateful that the radiator had repented of its uncooperative nature.

The Hunt For Fairy Barf

Day 220: Up until a month and a half ago, I had only seen Icmadophila ericetorum referred to as "fairy barf" in one lichen reference. Since then, I've encountered the name at least half a dozen times in unrelated field guides and on authoritative websites. Common names for lichens are not standardized, but it would appear that this one is achieving popularity rather quickly. Since pre-teen children seem to delight in innocent grossness, I decided to base today's kid-level Bio-Blitz lichen program on a hunt for fairy barf.

Six groups of seven or eight fourth and fifth grade students passed through my station on the Trail of the Shadows, usually starting at my favourite rock (the one which holds both species of Pilophorus), proceeding counter-clockwise to end at the junction with the Rampart Ridge trail. There was plenty of fairy barf along the way, and most of the kids took the opportunity to make a botanical drawing of the species. However, much to my surprise, almost every one of them sought out examples of the other species in their guides as well as those for which I provided botanical specimens. Even more surprising was the fact that in almost every group, at least one youngster asked me if Alectoria was "Old-Man's Beard," a very similar species. When I explained how to tell the difference, one young man searched and searched until at last he found a specimen of Usnea, and brought it to me to demonstrate the "elastic band" in the core. It was enormously rewarding to see young people taking a genuine interest in any science, but their enthusiasm for lichenology astonished me. I can only hope my adult audience tomorrow is as receptive! In the final tally, I have to say that Day One of Bio-Blitz was a rousing success.

Omphalina Umbellifera, A Lichen

Day 184: Despite its appearance, Omphalina umbellifera is technically not a mushroom. It is a lichen, one of only three lichen genera in the US known to have a basidiomycete as the fungal partner (as opposed to an ascomycete). What this means in layman's terms is that these lichens reproduce via different types of cells (asci versus basidia). It also means that poor little Omphalina is often disregarded by lichenologists when in fact it probably deserves closer study than many of its ascomycete cousins. Look for Omphalina on well-decayed ends of downed trees and have a little fun with your hiking friends when you explain that it's not a mushroom.

Best Rock Ever!

Day 183: My lunchtime walk today yielded up the Best Rock Ever! It holds BOTH species of Pilophorus side-by-side (clavatus on the left, acicularis on the right), and to further add to its merits, it's on the trail on which I'll be conducting a lichen walk during Bio-Blitz.

My Bio-Blitz walk will cover about a dozen lichen genera, and then our volunteers will be sent out on their own, cameras in hand, to photograph as many lichen species as they can find, with an eye to publishing them on iNaturalist. However, as a secondary goal, they will be specifically documenting Pilophorus in the hopes of getting a better picture of the time-frame in which this pioneer lichen colonizes "freshly exposed" rock surfaces. In my personal experience with P. acicularis, "freshly exposed" may range from 20-60 years.

In my original plan, I would have been taking people to two sites approximately a mile apart in order to view both species. The discovery of the Best Rock Ever just made my job enormously easier!

Looking At Longmire Lobaria

Day 87: With the return of precipitation to the "Pacific Northwe't," many lichen species such as this Lobaria are at their best during the months of winter. As you already have learned, the plants we call lichens are a symbiosis of fungal and algal components, i.e., two species in a cooperative relationship which benefits both. On their own, fungi are not capable of photosynthesis and rely on other means to obtain nutrients. In lichens, this is where algae come into play. Algae are the photosynthetic partners ("photobionts") which "feed" the fungal member of the symbiosis.

Lichens are paradigms of survival. During periods of low precipitation or drought, they dry to a point that observers might assume they were withered and dead. However, when the rains return, they spring back to health readily, "greening up" in a delightful display. The photobionts responsible for this change of colour include green, blue-green or brown algae singly or in combination, so a wide range of hues is possible, from dark brown-green to bright chartreuse. The winter forest is far from being drab and dull. Just look to the lively, lovely lichens!

Northern Flicker, Colaptes Auratus

Day 86: While walking through the snowy, dim stillness which is Longmire's wintertime Trail of the Shadows, a small movement drew my eye to the base of a tree and caused me to stop my walk until I could identify its source. It was no easy task, the light dimmed by overhanging cedar boughs, but when a few seconds later, a bit of brown-flecked "bark" moved again, it revealed itself to be a Northern Flicker, foraging in a cavity. Intent on its business, the bird plunged its head time and again into the hole, emerging after several probing thrusts with its beak to look 'round for potential predators. It must have felt I wasn't dangerous, because it allowed me to move closer until I had a clear view through the lens, although it continued to perform its safety checks between bouts of searching in the hollow until I moved on.

The bird we call "Northern Flicker" is a member of the woodpecker family. Colaptes auratus is further broken down into "Red-Shafted" and "Yellow-Shafted" members (western and eastern variants respectively). Our Red-Shafted Flicker males can be told from the females of the species by the bright red malar ("cheek") marking. In flight, these birds reveal reddish underwings and the distinctive "beat" which gives them the name "Flicker."

Pilophorus Clavatus, Tapered Matchstick Lichen

Day 15: How many times have I walked around the Trail of the Shadows, my eyes sweeping the surrounding area for rare and elusive species? How many times have I gone right past this particular rock, never seeing what was waving to me from its nearly bald pate? If I had not been searching for one particular solitary mushroom, only to be distracted from my task by another lichen nearby, I would not have been bent over at the right angle to the light or in the proper position to spot these minuscule and sparsely distributed threads.

This, dear readers, is a cousin to my favourite lichen (Pilophorus acicularis). It is Pilophorus clavatus, also known as Tapered Matchstick, common nomenclature derived from the "burnt" appearance of its apothecia. The tallest of these little buggers is only about three-quarters of an inch long, and you'd have to cluster four or five of the stalks to approximate the diameter of the lead in a pencil. We're talking TINY, and of course perfectly camouflaged against the rock. Like P. acicularis, Tapered Matchstick is a "pioneer" lichen, growing only on freshly exposed, non-calcareous rock. It is much less common than P. acicularis, occurs at higher elevations, and is more tolerant of deep shade. All of the Pilophorus species are nitrogen-fixers, a biological advantage if you're going to grow on "bare" rock or in poor soil.

Once I'd got this specimen in my photographic "bag," I spent some time looking for any other Pilophorus-supporting rocks in the vicinity. Nope, no luck, but now I'm on high alert. If they're out there, I'll find them.

Pholiota

Day 30: Without microscopic examination, Pholiota squarrosa and Pholiota squarrosoides cannot be differentiated reliably, and although both varieties were once believed to be edible and may be cited as such in older field guides, it is now known that these mushrooms can cause severe abdominal distress and vomiting, especially if consumed with alcohol. Also known as the Shaggy Pholiota, they are relatively uncommon outside deciduous forest. These specimens were located at the edge of Longmire Meadow in Mount Rainier National Park near a stand of young alders.

Red Coral, Ramaria Araiospora

Day 25: Let's settle one thing right now: other than a slight adjustment to brightness and contrast (and I'm talking very minor), this image has not been retouched, and it had the precise effect of a stoplight in the forest when I spotted it. I checked up short and said, "WHAT the **** is THAT?!?!?"

I have identified this as Ramaria araiospora, a member of the family of coral fungi. As such, it is not common. There were several colonies of it growing in one area just off the Trail of the Shadows at Longmire, but none as shockingly visible as this specimen. It is the first of its kind that I have encountered, although other corals occur quite frequently in our forests. Purportedly edible, I would never dream of picking such an unusual species.