#cryptogam

Did you know that the tallest moss species only gets to ~20 inches?

It’s the dark green one on the bottom

Tortella inclinata

Shortleaf chalk moss, inclined twisted moss

Hey all, I have decided to transition to moss instead of lichens. I know this is a huge change and many of you will likely lose interest now that the focus of this blog has shifted so significantly, but I promise I will do my best to make moss as interesting as lichens. So please give a warm welcome to T. inclinata! This widespread, pioneer species grows on loose, calcareous substrates in sun-exposed habitats in cool-temperate regions. It has pale yellow-green stems and hooded, twisted leaves. It forms dense tufts up to 1 cm tall. This species is dioicous (has male and female parts on separate plant), and it forms curved ellipsoidal to cylindrical spore capsules in spring. So yeah, that's a moss for ya! Bryophytes are great and I totally like them more than lichens now.

(in case it isn't clear, this is an April Fool's joke and we will return to our regularly scheduled lichen posts tomorrow)

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Micarea hedlundii

Hey, it's not polite to stare. I know this lichen has its pycnidia all out there in the open like that, but c'mon, show a little decorum. Just kidding, stare all you want. That's the point of this blog. Gaze upon the little weirdo that is M. hedlundii. This crustose lichen has a thallus of granular goniocysts (algal colonies inside a fugal sheath) which are dull olive-green on the outside, oily yellow-orange to violet on the inside. It only rarely produces apothecia, which are small and grayish brown to dark brown in color. Its most noticeable feature are those stalked pycnidia. What are pycnidia? They are flask-shaped, asexual reproductive structures which produce vegetative propagules. In most lichens, they are embedded in the thallus and inconspicuous, but M. hedlundii decided to make them a feature. These pycnidia are cylindrical, pink-brown to gray brown in color, and covered in white tomentum. Why? Because why not, I guess! If you want to stare at this gorgeous little weirdy in real life, you can find it growing vertically on stumps and rotting conifer wood at high elevations in scattered arctic-alpine regions of Asia, North America, and Europe.

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Xanthoparmelia tinctina

Do you ever get overwhelmed by the sheer number of very good bois there are out there in the world? Like when you realize you cannot possibly get to know and love them all in your lifetime because there are just too many? Yeah, I feel ya. Today's very good boi is X. tinctina: a foliose, rosette-forming lichen which grows on exposed, siliceous rock in Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern North America. It has a yellow-green to gray-white upper surface covered in globose or barrel-shaped isidia. It produces substipitate apothecia with a flexuose margin and a concave, brown disc. It is very similar in appearance to X. conspera, making it even more difficult to find and know and love, but it can be distinguished by a K+ red chemical reaction. Sometimes a love that is difficult to earn is the most rewarding . . . when it comes to lichens and like, cats and stuff. Not people. Don't waste our time on that shit. Do waste our time learning to ID lichens.

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Arctoparmelia subcentrifuga

Subcentric ring lichen

Guys, I am really into crypto these days--crypto-gams, that is! Cryptogams are organisms which reproduce via spores, not flowers and seeds. Literally the name means "hidden reproduction," and since the mycobiomes of lichens reproduce via tiny little spores that are yeah, pretty damn hidden, they fall into the category of cryptogams! The algal and cyanobacterial photobionts of lichens are also cryptogams, so lichens are like, the MOST cryptogam organisms, if you think about. Anyway, here is a delightful little crypto-pal for you to admire today, A. subcentrifuga. This foliose lichen has long, convex lobes which grow in concentric, incomplete rings. The upper surface is pale yellow-green or gray in color with a network of thin cracks running throughout. In older areas of the thallus (toward the center of the ring) these cracks widen and become pustule-like soralia which produce coarse soredia. Oddly, the descriptions of these lichens I can find online don't mention it producing apothecia (the fruiting bodies which produce the sexual spores of the mycobiont), but one of the pictures I have here clearly shows apothecia? IDK, cryptogams are gonna be cryptic, I guess. They has a reputation to maintain. A. subcentirfuga grows on talus, boulders and cliff-faces in montane, alpine, and arctic regions of North America, northern South America, and Scandinavia. Can I say it's a cryptid? Probably not without confusing people, but I will do so in my heart.

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