A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Ramalina menziesii
Lace lichen can have different shapes and forms. These were 2 cm wide and 8 cm long strips with branching on the margins. Light pale in color.
Spotted on the ground from being blown out of the trees from the wind. The strip of conifers where the lichen originated where close by. This lichen is found mostly along the west coast of North America and within a couple hundred meters of the coast line.
Lace lichen is an important food source for coastal deer, and a source of nest building material for birds.
11 Comments
Great find Brian,congrats on the SOTD and thanks for sharing
Congrats!!! Great SOTD
Thank you Sukanya.
Congratulations, Brian!
Thank you Hema and Sarah for your kind words. Thank you Daniele for making this lichen SOTD. I thought it was awesome that California had made this lichen their "state lichen ".
Way to go, Brian!! CONGRATS!! :)
Congratulations Brian, your fascinating Lace Lichen is our Spotting of the Day:
"Lichens can grow is a variety of shapes, and our Spotting of the Day, the Lace Lichen (Ramalina menziesii), is itself highly variable. Sometimes its branches are tiny slender lace-like strands, sometimes as seen here it grows into broadly flattened branches. Lichens play an important role in many ecosystems. Sensitive to air pollution and climate, lichens are being used to monitor air quality and climate change. Lichens are also a source of nutrition for animals, and lace lichen is an important food source for coastal deer along the North American west coast. The lace lichen is the California State Lichen, making California the first state in the US to recognize a lichen as a state symbol".
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/1...
Great find and observation!I might have mistook this for soggy paper.
Good job, Brian!! Interesting.....the things we find!! :)
Thanks Sarah! It really is a fascinating lichen. It's the first time I've come across this one - so my research time took way too long!
Those are cool!! They resemble bark "peelings" from a birch tree.