Like ’Em or Not – Lichens

This blog post has been on my mind for many months. Not that I studied it all that time, but mostly because it scared me! Not being a scientist I don’t speak genus and species, and really don’t know much about plants, etc. except the beauty and miracles I enjoy from them. So I asked Steven Fulton, our biologist, for help. “Steven, I want to do a blog on lichens and I need your help.” He asked, “When are you going to post it?” I said, “Next week” to which he replied, “I think you’ll need more time than that, there are 18,000 of them!”

In the winter of 2009 my friend, Joanna Rees, and I were exploring a very step rugged canyon on a part of the ranch named “High Lonesome.” We entered the canyon from the bottom climbing through thick brush, fallen trees, over rocks and stones. I was there primarily looking for any new source of water, a seep or spring, but we were also exploring, enjoying the Fall colors and getting good exercise. I hadn’t been in this canyon in years. It was thick with greenbriar which we were fighting and cutting on our way. At the head of the canyon rim it is lined with an outcropping of giant boulders, perhaps 20 feet tall. We could see where wild creatures had made their homes there. Perhaps coyotes, bobcats, maybe even our goats who are pastured there from time to time, but what got our attention were strange drawings on the face of these giant boulders. There were many of them and at first we thought – PETROGLYPHS. This was exciting as perhaps it would be another attraction for our education programs. We’re pretty excited about this and I can’t wait to show this to Steven. Upon looking at these interesting circles, Steven said these are not ancient Indian messages at all, but are in fact lichens. Not ancient, but they are formed over very long periods of time.

We have, over 40 years, been “building” a library here at the ranch. Not just field guides, but published research, and books on everything that exist with us and for us on this planet. Books on nature’s success stories, famous explorers who wrote about the Hill Country and modern day biologists and environmentalists. Books on endangered species and legal issues. Books on water, trees, grass, fossils – well you name it – we have a respectable library . . . but it had never occurred to me to acquire a book on lichens until my curiosity arose from the discovery of the “petroglyphs”!

I learned about the “lichen bible” as I call it – Lichens of North America by Irwin M. Brodd, Sylvia Duran Sharnoff and Stepehn Sharnoff published by Yale University Press. It’s unbelievably thorough and beautiful. It also is big and thick and it cost over $120.00! I also found in our library an article about lichens by Janet R. Edwards and printed in the Texas Co-op Power Magazine in September of 2001. I also got lichen information from my good friend Susan Sander, founder of the Riverside Nature Center in Kerrville. She is always full of nature knowledge. . . . One of the more unusual lichen things I received was through a Selah visitor, Gwendolyn Hallsmith, from Montpelier, Vermont. She, via email, introduced me to Alan Atkisson who wrote, among other things, “The Strangely Popular Lichen Song” which, with his permission, I’m adding the lyrics to this posting . . . You can buy the song on iTunes or on Amazon.com.

Now, just what are lichens? Once again, I have to confess – I’m not a biologist so I won’t try to get into the scientific lingo by copying from my Lichen bible – about the simplest way I can define a lichen is that they are small, colorful little creatures. They are not plants, but they grow or form just about everywhere in any environment from deserts to the Artic, on trees or stone, iron gates, power lines or dead wood. They are formed from a marriage of an alga and a fungus and like in any marriage (should be) they work together for the benefit of both. Lichens are different than mosses, fungi or algae, but I don’t have the ability to tell you about all their differences except that a mushroom is a fungus, mosses are small soft plants that, here on the ranch, grow on stones around our springs and as the adage goes “a rolling stone gathers no moss” and fungi are a group of spore-producing organisms feeding on organic matter such as molds, yeast, mushrooms and toadstools.

I read once in a government agriculture bulletin that it takes Mother Nature 500 years to manufacture soil. Well, it’s lichens that make this happen! One more fact before I move on, is that lichens are useful in making compounds used in medicines as well as herbicides, dyes and perfumes and if you’re poking around in bird nests, you’ll often find the birds used them in building the nests. So, you see, lichens are another of nature’s success stories!

Steven left me a post-a-note in the lichen bible instructing me to “find this in a tree.” It’s the 9 x 10 beautiful picture on the jacket cover of my lichen bible. I thought that should be so easy to spot until I walked trails and woods for two hours to no avail. You’d think an 82 year-old conservation oriented man like me would know better. When I complained to Steven, he reached to a branch over my head – he’s 6’8” - and broke off this dead branch. I had been wondering through the woods looking for a big patch of this orange beauty, not something the size of a nickel! Photograph taken by Lois Sturm.

Psora crenata (From the Lichen bible) Common name – Brickscale. Found on soil in arid sites. The scales are pink to pinkish-orange and turn grey-green when damp. They are very small. Photograph taken by J. David.

Here is Steven looking at the petroglyphs!! Well, not petroglyphs, but you can imagine how excited we were when we found them. The Lichen “bible” lists them as Speerchneidera euploca with a common name, Pale rockwood. Photograph taken by J. David.

Here you see a large group of the Pale rockwood. A common growth form of lichens is in circular patches or radial growth. Some lichens will maintain the entire patch of growth while others will allow the older center of the patch to become inactive and die leaving an outer ring of younger material which continues to take advantage of un-harvested nutrients/minerals from the substrate as it grows in a radial fashion. Photograph taken by J. David.

Dermatocarpon miniatum – common name Stippleback, leather lichen. Lichens have the ability to grow on rocks of all types and textures. These are usually found on limestone rock. Photograph taken by J. David.

The following are three pictures of lichen covered rock. Our hillsides on the ranch have many large rocks covered with the white patches – Hacma fenzlianum. We found very little of the yellow and orange. Photograph taken by J. David.

Photograph taken by J. David.

Photograph taken by J. David.

DISCLAIMER!!!!

Many times I’ve said I’m not a scientist. This is the most difficult blog I’ve ever tried and I might not have these lichens correctly identified. I will say I know much more now about lichens than I did before. Discovery and pictures were the easy part, the identification was not.

Now, if you want some real lichen entertainment fun, listen to Alan Atkinson sing his song. Here are the lyrics:

THE STRANGELY POPULAR LICHEN SONG
by Alan Atkisson

Once there was a fungus, Freddie was his name,

Said there’s no love for me among us

All these fungi look the same

So he took himself a’ courtin’

Down to where the green things grow

Met some algae name of Alice

She set his heart aglow



CHORUS



Freddie Fungs, Alice Algae

Took a “Lichen” to each other

They grew so very close

That now you can’t tell one from t’other

Them lichens lead a simple life

They never are alone

Alice does the cookin’

And Freddie builds the home



-That’s right, this song is biologically correct -



Well Freddie says, now Alice

You’ve made my life complete

But Alice said, “Now Freddie,

there’s something else we need.

gotta have some lichen children

little ones like you and me.”

So they broke up into pieces

That’s how lichens came to be.



CHORUS

-That’s right, they’re domestic, but they’ve got a great love life – like you



Now you’re a lonesome fungus

And you’re hungry too, besides

Better hook up with somebody

Who can photosynthesize

And if you love each other

Like all good couples do

And take vows of symbiosis

You can be a lichen, too.



CHORUS

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Our West Texas Vacation, Part 4 Lost Mine Tr.

When we walked part of the Lost Mine Trail in Big Bend National Park in West Texas, we managed to get an early start. There was a cool breeze and so it was quite comfortable. We tend to be slow to get going in the morning when we're on vacation. Also, as a cancer patient, I'm not the vigorous hiker I once was. However, we love the mountains, and J. David is patient with my slow speeds, so we still have a good time. Often, I sit down somewhere that is pretty and has interesting things to explore, and offer David the opportunity to hike unhindered by my slowness.

The entrance to the Lost Mine Trail is on the road that takes you in and out of the Chisos Basin, next to a parking area. The trail is clear and extremely well maintained.

Yellow-Trumpet-Flower (Tacoma stans) is a beautiful flower and a handsome bush. We saw them in many areas of the Chisos Basin, and they never fail to impress me. Two members of the same family Bignoniaceae that we have here at Selah are the Desert Willow (Chilopsis linerais) which has long skinny leaves and pink trumpet flowers, and Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) which has big compound leaves and orange or red trumpet flowers. All of these have beautiful and showy flowers.

I have always been fascinated by lichens, which produce beautiful colors and patterns on rocks. Lichens are actually two different life forms that live together in symbiosis, which describes a relationship in which the partners involved could not survive without each other. A fungus provides a moist home for a specific algae. That algae has chlorophyll and makes food from sunlight which feeds both the algae and the fungus. Together they make a self-contained life form that can live in inhospitable places such as rocks.

As we climbed up the trail along the back of Casa Grande we looked down on Panther Pass. Through the pass we could see Green Gulch which is the only way to drive into the Chisos Basin.

The native Flax we have at the ranch is yellow. Prairie Flax (Linum lewisii) is similar in shape but is a beautiful delicate blue. Scattered along the trails they provided me with endless entertainment.

The Lost Mine Trail curves around and up the back of Casa Grande, which looks a bit different from the back. It is almost always in sight and stands out like a beacon.

Because of its incredible flame red color, Trumpetilla (Bouvardia ternifolia) is noticable as well as beautiful. This is a mountain flower and is mostly found above 4000 feet elevation.

I was sitting to catch my breath and enjoy the scenery when David took this photo. Casa Grande is behind and above me.

One of my favorite views is this one looking into Juniper Canyon. The feeling of immense space, the distant mountains and their pale blue color, and the bare rock on the mountains across the canyon all are part of the reason that I love this place.

One of the ways I can tell we are in a wet season is that the Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) is covered with leaves. During dry spells they lose their leaves and are bare spiny stems but stay alive even during extremely hot, dry spells. They have blossoms between May and July, which are red and very showy.

A close-up of Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) shows the vigorous green leaves that appear when there is enough rainfall.

After a day of hiking, David and I drove out along Green Gulch and sat at a drive-in spot for an informative sign. We enjoyed the view, the cool air, and some refreshment before going to the lodge for supper.

I never get tired of Madrone trees, and this lovely small tree was in the area where we had stopped to enjoy the view.

A close-up of the Madrone tree shows the smooth reddish bark on the living portion of the tree, and the black wood of the branches that have died. It is not unusual to see a healthy tree with a number of bare grey or black branches. (Check an enlarged version of the previous picture  of the whole tree for some good examples.)

We went to the Rio Grande in the evening with our friends Rhonda and Emily. We found the Hot Springs but unfortunately they were full of mud. We decided that it was a nice place to sit and visit but no one wanted to soak in "hot mud".

Along the Window View Trail is this monument and I wanted to share with you the message inscribed on it, because we are all blessed that there were people who understood the importance of preserving some of the country's most beautiful spots for the enjoyment of future generations. Thank you, Mr. Mather!

STEPHEN TYNG MATHER
July 4, 1867 - Jan 22, 1930
HE LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEFINING AND ESTABLISHINGTHE POLICIES UNDER WHICH ITS AREAS SHALL BE DEVELOPED AND CONSERVED UNIMPAIRED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THERE WILL NEVER COME AN END TO THE GOOD THAT HE HAS DONE.

Photographs by Margaret Bamberger, August of 2008.