Saturday, August 8, 2009

The Joys of Lichen and Moss

It's like a little forest on top of a tree stump...





Yet another year of little rain. On the one hand, I can say that our 20,000 litre tank supply is full after only about 3-4 weeks, yet by looking around the area carefully as I walk, I could see that there wasn't much evidence of persistent soaking rain - usually I see fungi on tree trunks, a lot of moss and lichen, toadstools and fungi everywhere on the ground. This year was very sparse up until about 3 weeks ago (when our tanks started filling). But I hate to think what might be ahead of us this summer.

5 comments:

Lorraine said...

I love the photos, Sherryl. Yes, the first one does look like a miniature forest, a fairy forest in fact in that setting. The one where the plants cascade triggers the imagination, too.

Snail said...

I thought that first one was a distant shot of a forest landscape!

Although they're tiny, mosses contain entire ecosystems of animals and single-celled organisms. Amazing to look at under a microscope!

Sherryl said...

Some of the lichen and moss is really beautiful. One tree had different colours on it and looked like a leopard's coat.
Wish I did have a microscope...

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Sherryl
Some of those grey lichens which are growing up tall might soon develop little red caps on them.
Like little red boxing gloves.
That'll be their fruiting bodies.
See my post:
http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2006/07/nature-of-jims-red-boxing-glove.html
I love lichens and mosses.
Cheers
Denis

Sherryl said...

I'll keep a lookout for them, Denis. Thanks.

 
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