What has our botanist Dr Oliver Moore seen lately
Our botanist Dr Oliver Moore has been out on nature walks in the Cairngorms and has some fascinating observations:
Granny Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) above a plantation in the Cairngorms National Park. There is a standing dead tree in the right of the photograph which may support a specialised lichen flora. These standing dead pine trees are known as ‘pine bones’ among lichenologists.
Bird’s-foot Wing-moss (Pterogonium gracile) is seen here emerging from the snow on a loch edge rock in the Highlands. Spring seems a long way off yet even though we are almost into April now and I am suffering from green withdrawal.
Pin-head lichens are often found on the sheltered side of old trees in dry crevices of the bark. This stand of Calicium viride was found on a veteran Silver Birch (Betula pendula), in an upland wood, following close scrutiny of the substrate with a hand-lens. Encountering them is a real delight and worth getting the odd funny-look from passers-by as you get into a position to examine them carefully.
There are more than 1700 species of lichen occuring throughout the British Isles, and many grow in Scotland where the air is purer. Several different species may be found on a single rock or tree, resulting in lichenologists spending hours in one spot! For more information click here
The reproductive structures of Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea) emerging from the stump of a tree (that it was probably responsible for killing) appear in autumn. This organism is also known as Boot-lace Fungus because of its rhizomorphs that resemble tough black cords enabling it to spread from tree to tree through all manner of unlikely substances such as tarmac. There is even an argument that Honey Fungus could be one of the largest organisms on the planet because one individual could be responsible for parasitising trees over a large area. I think the mushrooms in the background are Glistening Ink Caps (Coprinus micaceus) in their characteristic habitat of old stumps.
