Blackbush Shaw Lichens

Cudham Valley, looking towards Cudham. 19 November 2011.

This is the view from the lower edge of Blackbush Shaw towards Cudham, on the Orpington Field Club's misty outing on 19th November.  The lichens in this post came from an area to the left of this scene, on the path down into the valley.

The lichens looked very healthy and were obviously growing well. These specimens were all on tree or shrub twigs, and the trees don't have to be very old to become almost covered in lichens as long as they are not in bright sunshine.  For identifying lichens (and fungi) I am mostly reliant on others, so if I have got any of these wrong, please leave a message.

The Oakmoss below has a leafy structure, whereas the others are crustose lichens that cling to the surface they grow on.

Oakmoss, Evernia prunastri.  Cudham, 19 November 2011.

Xanthoria polycarpa. Cudham, 19 November 2011.

This orange-yellow Xanthoria polycarpa is a familiar sight in the suburbs. It doesn't have much tolerance of pollution, so it used to be on roofs and walls at the very edge of the countryside; but since the Clean Air Act in 1956 it is growing much closer to town, and there is lots of it on the garden walls here in Hayes.  This one has colonised a twig.

Lecanora chlarotera.  Cudham, 19 November 2011.

On the crustose lichens you can see the jam tart shapes of the apothecia, their fruiting bodies. These are sometimes a contrasting colour to the rest of the lichen: see below ...

A group of lichens on a shrub.  Cudham, 19 November 2011.

This popular twig has at least four different lichens. At the top right, another Lecanora chlarotera. Below and to its left, Lecidella elaeochroma, greyish with black apothecia. These two often grow in a patchwork on trees.  On the left, a foliose lichen, perhaps a Parmelia species, and to the far left you can see an orangey apothecium of another Xanthoria. The yellowish-green material all around these might be an alga, though it does seem that there is some young Xanthoria in there.

Finally, something different; a moss. This clump was growing on the end of a twig in mid-air! It could not have grown like that. It was close to the ground, so maybe when the branchlet was fully leaved it was heavy enough to touch the ground, when moss could have spread around the tip.  (Added later: This moss is probably Eurhynchium striatum.)

Clump of moss hanging from a twig.  Blackbush Shaw, Cudham, 19 November 2011.

Most of the photos here were taken with my EOS 60D and 100mm macro lens, as usual, but the scene at the top was taken with my iPhone 4s.