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Project Noah Nature School
Nostoc spp.
A cyanobacteria, not really a true algae. It looks like dark green Gelatinous mass when wet and dries to a crusty greenish-black on soil surface.
This specimen is growing in the shade of live oak trees that are on the top of a berm beside a drainage ditch. The soil is mostly bare with a few thin patches of grass and weeds. Interestingly, most of the plants are clustered around the Nostoc.
Nostoc can fix atmospheric nitrogen which is maybe why clusters of plants growing around and through it. It is also edible.
Spotted on Dec 6, 2012
Submitted on Dec 7, 2012
1 Comment
Good find. Fascinating stuff this nostoc... like seaweed on land.