The usual first sightings of the many different lichens that abound, are those that hang from the trees. If this sight could attract you to look further into this wonderful new field of nature, you would see so many other strange and distinctive lichens.

The main ingredient for a healthy lichen, is a non polluted area.  Like the canary in the coal mines in days gone bye warning of gases, so the lichen measures the air quality in its midst.
 

There are many different species of lichen that make use of the trees for their survival. Usnea filipendula on the left, Cladina portentosa ssp. pacifica in the centre and the Antlered Perfume Lichen, Evernia prunastri, these are only three of them.

Many others use the trees in other ways.  There are great numbers that wrap around the tree or its branches. Amongst these species, there is as great a variety of different shapes and colors as there are in any garden of flowers.

It is a thrill to see something that is not always in plain sight and one has to search for it.  Although these branch hugging lichens may be plentiful, like all botany plants in nature, they only fruit at certain times.

As the season passes we see the lichens in a whole new perspective.  The different colors of the fruit adding that little something extra to the scene. A single branch or the smallest twig, can carry a whole miniature garden of amazing shapes.

The variety of fruiting specimens is well worth the effort to seek out these strange shapes.
 

Then there are the strange arrangements of the dots on a variety of different lichens.  Many of these patterns are on the reverse side and are often missed, if not missed altogether.
 

They fruit like peppermint sweets and small red discs, once again showing natures unique blends of contrast and camouflage.
 

Speaking of camouflage, here is a lichen that bares that common name, the Camouflage Lichen, one of the Melanelia sp.
 

Spots, dots and blotches, these are all used by these dead wood habitants.  There is also an astounding variation in the forms they take on. Add the colors of these strange species, and you begin to see what makes lichen searching so very interesting.
 

Here again we can see the twin colors that so many lichen possess. There is the black surface with the fine hairs and the pale grayish green contrasting color. Then we have this friendship image with the moss and lichen sharing this small segment in a very large area.

Two others that find wood quite accommodating are the  Beaded Bone Lichen, Hypogymnia enteromorpha, and the Eyebrow Lichen, a Parmotrema sp.
 

There are many other lichens that thrive on the decaying wood of fallen trees. Many look like miniature gardens in themselves and share these precious sites with a variety of other plants.

They may appear tall and have huge flowers, but these lichen, even with these bright red caps, are not easily seen if one is not looking for them.

These Cladonia species add a little color to these crowded miniature garden scenes with the red on gray

Similar to some of those hanging lichens, we have the one on the left that does quite well amongst the moss and ferns at the base of the rocks. Also here, are two species that perhaps take us away from the thought of them being lichens at all with such a difference in appearance from the first image.

Now we arrive at the strangest types of lichen.  Not necessarily the strangest in appearance, although there are some that could qualify for that honor. These lichens are those that call the rocks home.

A contrast between the white and black on rock.

Once again we have a great number of lichens that fit in this category.   Here we have one of the rarer looking ones as we get away for a while from the different shades of orange colors that one usually associates with rock lichens.
 

This close up also shows the various shapes that these rock lovers develop and are not looked at too closely, being taken for granted
 

There are many other species that have adapted to this harsh living, and some take on a remarkable likeness to some of the other lichens shown earlier with the peppermint type of shaped discs.
 

Yes, even the lichens that survive on plain rocks show a little color with these small flowers of red. This is also something that is rarely seen.
 

FLOWERS

FUNGI

MOSS

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