Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Nature's Accessories

Another close-up day... I'm not a horticulturist, or a mycologist (a word I used while posting this - it's a scientist who studies fungi), so unfortunately I can't tell you what this is exactly. It was everywhere along the trail at Southfork. It would appear (after consulting Wikipedia) that mosses are not fungi, but I didn't read the entire entry on "moss." So I'm not really sure if this is a moss or a fungi, but whatever it is, it's beautiful. The colour is cool and it looks like this branch is attempting to dress its finest - in spite of having lost all of its summer accessories. More of Southfork to come...

4 comments:

Laurie Allee said...

Where oh where is Uselaine? I'm certain she could ID this for us.

I love it, whatever it is. ANother great shot.

USelaine said...

Hey, Laurie! Thanks for calling me over! I posted about this life form months ago, with enthusiasm appropriate to LICHENS! They come in sort of leafy, or crusty, or shrubby (long threadlike) forms, and they are all comprised of BOTH a fungus AND an algae, if you can believe it! And they don't harm the things they grow on, because they get everything they need from the air. That's why they can even grow on rocks - they don't have roots!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

I love lichen!!! 8^)

Pat said...

I was about to enlighten you that they are lichens, but see USelaine beat me to it! We used to use these as "bushes" when decorating our Christmas yard---had a Lionel train, little houses, people....and lichens.

The Mom said...

Wow, a beautiful photo and a science lesson blended into one. How creative!