I now believe that what we were told was ‘moss’ coating the lava plains in Iceland (posted 27 August) was in fact lichen. Its pale colour not due to a desiccating summer but simply the natural delicate pale grey to pale yellowish green of either a Snow lichen or a Reindeer lichen also known as Caribou moss. I have spotted it from the train window (The Canadian) as we have swept passed Canadian forests, lakes, waterways and rocky outcrops in Ontario. And I remember seeing something very similar in patches along the Port Davey Track in SW Tasmania a few years ago.
If you’re interested to know more about these amazing ancient organisms then read on, otherwise simply jump to the next post. Apologies for blurry pix - some taken from train through dirty glass.
So lichens ..... they are slow-growing, long-lived and able to survive incredible extremes of climate. They grow on almost any surface, at any altitude and in any terrestrial environment. They are a composite organism composed of an alga and a fungus. Because the fungus forms its main structural components, lichens are classed in the kingdom Fungi. These symbiotic organisms are very selective in their choice of ‘life partner’. How the two recognise their ‘perfect mate’, however, is a puzzle yet to be solved - same could be said for humans!! Suffice it to say that they do so very effectively! They are pioneer species on many things - bare rock, live and dead trees - and even desert sand! What’s not to love? Get me a book on lichens and moss and I’ll be happy - for a time!! I need one also on rocks and .......
On the rock is either map or concentric ring lichen. They are both crustose lichen which form a sort of crust clinging to the surface of rocks etc. Snapped when passing Sioux Lookout. In the background is the snow or reindeer lichen which I think is a fruticose lichen - a shrubby or bushy growth structure similar to what we saw on the lava plains.
Blurry pic but there are large patches of what I believe is the ‘snow’ lichen among the trees
This I now believe is snow or reindeer lichen carpeting the lava plains in Iceland
Concentric ring lichen. In spite of its dull colour, in the Arctic where we saw this the lichen was boiled with wool to produce a reddish-brown dye. The vivid one is elegant sunburst or jewel lichen (a foliose lichen). It thrives on rocks fertilised by bird or mammal droppings. Inuit hunters used this lichen to locate prey.
As well as the glorious elegant sunburst on this rock, the small clusters of dark lichen at the top of the rock are Rock tripe. This could be scraped off the rocks and eaten in times of need - it had to be boiled a few times!! Some were used as dyes
No comments:
Post a Comment