When the snow is piled high and it seems like anything of any interest is buried under it I go to the woods and look at the trees. They’re never buried and they always have something fascinating to show me, like lichens. Lichens will grow on just about anything including glass, but this post is devoted to those I’ve found on trees.
The yellow on the trunk of the tree in the previous photo I believe is made up of fringed candle flame lichens (Candelaria fibrosa) like that seen above, but I’m not a lichenologist and I don’t own a test kit or microscope, so don’t hold me to it. This lichen must like a lot of water because I see it a lot on the lower parts of trees that grow near irrigation systems, with trunks that are almost always wet in warmer months. This lichen always reminds me of scrambled eggs.
What prompted me to do this post was a visit to the doctor’s office. I walked past a tree that had bushy green things all over it and luckily I had my camera with me, so I ran back and took a few quick shots before the appointment. This is the first time I’ve seen anything like this.
It has taken quite a while to figure out what this lichen might be called but its green body (thallus) with flattened strap like branches and white fruiting bodies (apothecia) have led me to finally settle on the tufted ramalina lichen (Ramalina fastigiata.) A lichen guide from 1902 says this lichen is “very common in New England” but I’ve never seen it. It is also apparently very common in the U.K.
This is an odd lichen with large apothecia that look like they just erupt anywhere on the body but also look like they are stalked, depending how you look at them. Some are convex and some concave and some have rims and some don’t. The white apothecia are reproductive structures where the lichen’s spores are produced. This is a very interesting lichen that I hope to see more of without having to visit the doctor.
The doctor’s trees were full of surprises. I almost made myself late taking photos of the tufted ramalina so I went back later and looked the trees over a little more closely. When I did I found another lichen I had never seen; the Eastern speckled shield lichen. According to what I’ve read it grows on the bark of deciduous trees, has a bluish gray body with large brown apothecia, and has brown to black dots (pycnidia) on the surface of the body. This lichen has all of that but what it doesn’t have that I could see are white, grainy bits called psuedocyphellae so I can’t be 100% sure of my identification. If you know more about this or any of the lichens seen here I’d love to hear from you.
Common greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) is indeed very common. It’s a large lichen and colonies of them often grow to cover entire trees. Older ones wrinkle like the example seen here. Like many lichens they change color, and go from grayish when dry to yellow green when wet. This example had just been rained on a day or two before I took the photo but was still dry, so it doesn’t take them long to dry out. This lichen also taught me that many lichens prefer growing on the shady side of trees, presumably so the sun doesn’t dry them out quite so fast.
If you saw what looked like blue eyes near the greenshield lichen in the previous photo they were just the apothecia of the star rosette lichen (Physcia stellaris) seen here. The apothecia of this lichen are actually dark brown but they have a powdery wax coating that can cause their color to change depending on the light. Plant parts with this powdery waxy coating are said to be pruinose and a good example of it is the “bloom” on blueberries, grapes, plums, and other fruit. The coating reflects light and protects what it coats from the sun. Depending on the angle of the light these apothecia can appear blue, gray, brown or black. That’s why it pays to visit lichens several times.
I was shocked to find a tree with hammered shield lichens (Parmelia sulcata) all over it, because my experience up to this point has shown it to be on the rare side here. There didn’t seem to be anything special about the deciduous tree they were on, but it was in a sheltered spot. Hammered shield lichen is said to have a large variety of named varieties and forms, so it can be tough to pin down.
Hammered shield lichens are silvery gray and their many sharp ridges and depressions makes them look like they’ve been hammered out of a piece of steel. Fruiting bodies are said to be rare and I’ve never seen them. It is said to have powdery, whitish soredia but I’ve never seen them either. This one had granular bits that looked like soredia on its lobe edges but they were gray, so maybe it’s one of the aforementioned varieties.
Poplar sunburst (Xanthomendoza hasseana) is a very pretty lichen but it isn’t very common, in my experience. It’s a good one to study because it has large apothecia that are almost always present. A close relative of this lichen, the elegant sunburst lichen, was sent into space and exposed to ultraviolet radiation, cosmic radiation, and the vacuum of space for a year and a half. When it was brought back to earth it grew on as if nothing had happened, and that’s why many believe lichens are virtually indestructible and are therefore as immortal as any earth based life form can be.
Some lichens prefer growing on smooth barked trees but others don’t seem to care and will form themselves to whatever shape the bark they grow on happens to have. What I think is a rosy saucer lichen (Ochrolechia trochophora) had done just that and was bowl shaped, but still happily producing spores.
Shrubby little beard lichens are fruticose lichens, and fruticose lichens have upright or pendulous branches. I think this one is a bristly beard (Usnea hirta.) Though it grew on the shadier side of a tree it was caught in bright sunlight, and I’d guess that it must get an hour a day. One way beard lichens reproduce is by fragmentation. Pieces break off and are carried by the wind or maybe animal fur to another spot to colonize. There are many of these high up in the trees and they come down, often still attached to the branch they grew on, during a good wind. I’ve found as many on the ground as I have on trees.
This is an extreme close up of a different beard lichen showing its granular soredia, which are another means of reproduction. A soredium is a tiny granular ball of fungal hyphae and algal cells. They can grow on the body of the lichen or on its margins. No matter what living thing you find in nature, it’s always about the continuation of the species, and the drive to survive seems very strong in all of the things I see.
I think this lichen is a powder edged ruffle lichen (Parmotrema stuppeum) because of its uniform gray color, broad rounded lobes with erect edges, and soralia on the lobe edges. Soralia are groups of soredia meant to fall or break off a lichen and are used as a vegetative means of reproduction. They are what makes this lichen’s lobe edges look like they were dipped in powdered sugar. This lichen also has dark brown to black undersides but they aren’t seen in this photo. It was about as big as a penny, or about 3/4 of an inch across.
Some lichens might look like they have little spiders on them, or maybe as if they had been carved with a pocket knife but no, the squiggly lines are the apothecia of the script lichen (Graphis scripta.) This lichen prefers trees with smooth bark and, from what I’ve seen, only produces spores in winter. You can walk right by a tree full of script lichens in summer and see only grayish spots with no apothecia at all. In fact many lichens seem to prefer winter for spore production and I’ve never been able to find out why.
Beautiful in its simplicity is the maple dust lichen (Lecanora thysanophora.) Plain and undressed without the fussiness of other lichens, it makes me think I could just stand and stare at it, warmed by its calm, clean lines. But how does it reproduce? I’ve never seen any reproductive structures of any kind on it so I had to look it up. The answer is that it does have apothecia, but very rarely. It also has “a thin patchy layer of soredia,” though I’ve never noticed it. The white fringe around the outside is called the prothallus and using it is a great way to identify this lichen, because from what I’ve read there isn’t another that has it.
I hope you’ll go out and look at the trees in your neighborhood. You might be very surprised by what you see.
I find myself inspecting little granules as it were on the bark of trees – little shields or apothecia springing from a thallus – such is the mood of my mind – and I call it studying. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Thanks for stopping in.
while looking for wild wedding florals i came across this blog. Thank you! I will be reading so much more of what you’ve written and photographed here.
Thank you and welcome. Lichens might make a pretty boquet but it would be a small one!
That script lichen is really fascinating. Looks like an ancient cuneiform language.
Thanks, I think so to!
I have never seen that ramalina fastigiata. My book says that it is widespread but not common which may explain that.
I’ve heard from one who knows that it’s very susceptible to pollution and that it has become rare here these days. Apparently it was doing better in 1902, which is when the book I read was written.
These are a beautiful selection of lichens, Allen. Thank you! The lichens in the trees in our area are swollen with the winter rains. Trees can be so heavily festooned they look look grey-green from a distance.
You’re welcome Lavinia. Yes, lichens love the rain. I’m guessing that’s why you see so many.
I love seeing the variety of lichens that you have there. So interesting!
Thanks Montucky! We’re lucky enough to have many thousands of different lichens here.
Look to the trees. Hope the doctor’s visit went all right.
Thank you Laurie. Yes, it was fairly routine and unexciting the way they should all be.
Good!
So beautiful and so colourful, thank you for opening my eyes.
Thank you Susan. I doubt anyone could ever see all there is to see out there, even in our own yard.
A lovely little world whose small creatures look as though they have come to Earth from another planet.
Thank you Ben. There are those who believe that of all life on earth lichens have the best chance of colonizing another planet, so you might not be far off!
Who knows … 🙂
I find lichens fascinating. You could not have found a more apt quote!
Thank you Susan, me too! Thoreau and I think a lot alike, I guess.
These lichen are amazing! The tufted ramalina lichen, the star rosette, so unusual. I look at lichen on the trees here and to me they all seem more the same than all these varieties. Some of the common names are so descriptive, and the science behind it is interesting. I guess I will have to try harder to find more variety in the lichen I see on my walks. Thanks again.
Thanks Chris! Often the most common lichens are the biggest as well, like common greenshield. Most of these I’ve shown are hardly as big as a penny, so you have to look closely and even use a loupe to see what you see here.
I often imagine people asking “why does that guy have his face against that tree?” It’s because you have to get that close to see the lichens!
You have so many lichens I never see, and then didn’t post four of the most common by me (in NJ): Candelaria concolor, Punctellia rudecta, Parmortrema hypertropum, and Physcia millegrana. In fact the only one that seems to be common on trees both here and by you is common greenshield. (and I also see Parmelia sulcata fairly often)
I see Ramalina lichens a lot but nearly always on planted Bradford pear trees in parking lots. In fact 3-inch diameter planted trees in the middle of lawns or lots are the very best places for interesting lichen collections in my area.
Thank you Sara. I think we have all of the lichens here that you mentioned and I think your Candelaria concolor might even be the same lichen that I called Candelaria fibrosa. Though I look at many lichens I try to use my idea of the prettiest or showiest lichens for these posts, because I’m trying to get people interested and give them something to do outside in winter.
These ramalina lichens were on planted trees but they were not bradford pears. If I went by the fruit I’d have to say crabapple but I won’t be sure until spring. But yes, I do agree that those kinds of trees are great for finding lichens on!
This was a very interesting post. I’ve always found lichens to be somewhat enchanting and have hauled many home over the years, growing on dead, fallen branches. I have one now that is bristly beard, the other I’m not sure (grey, flat, ruffled edges). They are sharing the same 8″, thumb sized branch and are mixed together. Are they still alive? How does one know? I’m so enjoying reading about your rambles 😊.
Thank you Ginny. Yes, your lichens are still alive and if you put them outside on a warm, rainy day you should see a change come over them. Where they are crisp now they will be rubbery after a rain, and they might change color as well. If nothing else lichens are patient and they will sit on that branch inside your house for a lifetime, just waiting for the right conditions to produce spores.
I suspect, when I’m gone, someone will ask “What was he doing with these old things?” and will throw all of mine out the back door into the woods where they came from. Then they’ll just go back to doing what lichens do.