Friday, March 4, 2011

lichen and moss ~ 03/04/11 ~ Pinnacles


Oooh, look at the pretty rocks! That's the best ID you're going to get out of me. I thought I'd try my hand at lichen ID this morning (posted 03/12/11). Ha! No way, José! If anyone can tell me the visual difference between Caloplaca ignea and Xanthoria elegans, please, please comment. There are an estimated 300+ species of lichens at Pinnacles. In the second photo above, I count at least 6 different kinds of lichen in about one square meter of rock. Seriously, who took the time to inventory all the lichen? If you're interested in lichen, I recommend these two great lichen sites: Lichens of North America (thanks to Ted at Beetles in the Bush from a comment made on Squirrel's View) and The California Lichen Society.

ps 09/08/11 - Thanks to help on my Flickr photo, the moss shown above may not actually be moss, but spike-moss, a totally different kind of plant. Who knew?

4 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

If you blew up either of those first 2 shots, they would make GORGEOUS frameable prints! Love them!

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Thanks. I wish I could, twg. I wanted to enter some photos to the county fair last year, but the resolution of our old point-and-shoot is so low that I couldn't print large enough for their submission guidelines.

Imperfect and Tense said...

Lichen rocks! I must be getting old :o)Is the last shot of an old water course?

camissonia (Arleen) said...

Love, love the lichen pics! I have a thing for lichen, and have dubbed them "rock art." Out here on the Santa Rosa Plateau, they are especially vibrant in the late winter (rainy season seems to accentuate their fantastic hues).