Matchstick Lichen – Cladonia cristatella
AKA: British Soldiers
These were growing in what you might call a hostile environment. A sand and gravel bank created by glacial deposit doesn’t provide much to live on. About the only thing living on this landscape was moss and lichens. The moss was bone dry after a prolonged ‘drought’ and I could both hear and feel it crunch under my moccasins. How alive the moss is could be debated but there were hints of green here and there. I’m sure it will revive after it cools down and we get some decent rain.
I know of no other area like this when it comes to matchstick lichens. Usually I find them here and there, never in such great numbers and covering so large a space as I found them here. I actually has to watch my step to keep from stepping on them.
Several scattered pieces of dry wood had lichens growing on them but I found only one that rated on my cuteness scale. A bit of deer moss (really a lichen – Cladonia sp.) growing alongside the matchsticks in a knothole created a cute mini garden that looks like it came from another planet.
Lichen my miniature knothole garden
How cool is that? A handful of garden that I don’t have to weed. All I need to do is place in where it will get plenty of sun and clean air. I’m thinking of transplanting another mysterious (I have no clue of the name) lichen to make the garden even more alien looking.
WIGNIT* Lichen
Fairy FountainsThey look like tiered fountains to me. Now all I have to do is figure out how to drill a hole through the ‘stems’ and find a really teeny tiny fountain pump and I’m in business. I Googled ‘fairy fountain lichen’ and nothing relevant came up. I posted the above photo on G+ hoping someone might be able to properly identify it. Regardless of the scientific name I am declaring the common name to be Fairy Fountain Lichen – or not Happy me, I’ve named something that just might catch on. Wait a couple of days for this post and image to be indexed and I’ll be an authority on the web I’d consider harvesting some of these for arts and crafts people that create Fairy Habitats but do not want to destroy the only colony on this planet known to me. If I ever get an answer on G+ I’ll come back and edit the post to include the scientific name. Until then the unofficial classification will have to remain: *What in God’s Name Is That |
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August 10th, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Your British Soldiers are coming back.
August 10th, 2012 at 11:15 pm
I have never seen match stick lichen before. That is so pretty. I love the little knothole garden(-; The fairy fountains are very interesting as well although not as colorful as the matchsticks(-: Thanks for sharing. I hope you find out the name of the fairy fountains but I like that name so hopefully it sticks(-;
August 11th, 2012 at 8:00 am
WA,
The knot hole garden is way cool, like an oasis in a desert. No ideal what the other one is?
August 11th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Love the little garden. It really looks like an alien surface, like from the movie Avatar.
August 12th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Wow- I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like that either. That is WAY cool. Are we connected on G+? Your closeups have such awesome definition. You must have a better camera than I have (not difficult to achieve)
August 12th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
Believe it or not, I just found the mystery lichen in Michigan Lichens by Julie Jones Medlin. It is Cladonia verticillata- wedding cake lichen. She says it’s common in MI- guess I’ll have to pay attention. It says the cups lack soredia but often have squamules on the stems. Alrighty then!
October 12th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
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