carrot algae (a type of green algae) on Monterey cypressTrentepohlia aurea var. polycarpa on Hesperocyparis macrocarpa (formerly Callitropsis or Cupressus)
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Cupressaceae
Good golly! I would have never guessed the orange stuff on cypress trees and rocks is a type of green algae. When I first saw it years ago in this limited area of Point Lobos, I figured it was a mold of some sort. Thanks to the handy-dandy checklist the ranger gave us (I mentioned this in my osprey post from this hike), I now have a name to the genus. When I first searched online, I misspelled Trentepohlia as "Trentepholia" with the 'o' and 'h' switched. I got lots of beautiful pictures, but very little actual information about this living thing. Sigh, gone are the days when my only labels were insects, flowers, and places. I still feel like I should take another general biology class to figure out what all those non-plant/non-animals things are.
ps 06/09/12 - I edited the name and links above to reflect better book and online information about the specific Trentepohlia found at Point Lobos.
ps 06/09/12 - I edited the name and links above to reflect better book and online information about the specific Trentepohlia found at Point Lobos.
2 comments:
Point Lobos is amazing. I walked around there in wonder. See how far these trees have gone.
http://thefieldofgold.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/california-trees-that-came-to-new.html?utm_source=BP_recent
Ya, I saw your post in December and thought it was funny that you came to where I live and I've been where you live. You did a much better job at explaining things than I ever could.
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