Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Lichens

I was fascinated by this little mini-garden growing on top of a fence post in a local park. Several different Lichens made this their home. My photo doesn't do it justice : )

I can never resist photographing a beautiful display of lichens when I see one : ) They are such beautiful growths, in their colour and their patterns. This display was found at the Nodwell Sanctuary, south east of the city. "Lichens are amazing living entities, in that they are not a single organism like plants, animals or fungi. Instead every single lichen is the result of two or more separate organisms living permanently together. All lichens are made up of a fungal partner and either/or an algal partner or a cyanobacterium partner, or both. Lichens first appeared about 400 million years ago so they have been around for a long time. Some individual species such as Hypogymnia physodes have been around for at least 25 million years and maybe for as long as 70 million years. Obviously the lichen symbiosis is a successful strategy." www.earthlife.net/lichens/intro.html

Lots of Lichens to see on our full-day hike at Marston Creek in Kananaskis Country yesterday. I liked this bright orange one growing on a dark brown rock. Mother Nature is so artistic : )

I liked the vartiety of lichens growing on this small branch that is growing in the Hibernaculum in Fish Creek Park. We recorded about 104 Garter Snakes yesterday in roughly two hours; almost all were male Wandering Garter Snakes.

I just thought this was a nice mix of lichens (no doubt very common ones) growing on this dead wood. Seen at Keith and Sandy Logan's acreage near Bottrel, north west of Cochrane (which is north west of Calgary). We spent a good part of Friday recording the plants, birds, insects, etc. that we saw there.

Photographed this gorgeous display of different Lichens on 16th July at Bow Valley Provincial Park (right at the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains).

The pale green, more "feathery" Lichen growing from this branch is an Usnea species. Not sure what the darker Lichen is. Found growing in the forest at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 13th November. "Usnea is the generic and scientific name for several species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae, that generally grow hanging from tree branches, resembling grey or greenish hair. It is sometimes referred to commonly as Old Man's Beard, Beard Lichen, or Treemoss. Usnea grows all over the world. Like other lichens it is a symbiosis of a fungus and an alga. The fungus belongs to the division Ascomycota, while the alga is a member of the division Chlorophyta. Usnea has been used medicinally for at least 1000 years. Usnic acid (C18H16O7), a potent antibiotic and antifungal agent is found in most species. This, combined with the hairlike structure of the lichen, means that Usnea lent itself well to treating surface wounds when sterile gauze and modern antibiotics were unavailable. It is also edible and high in vitamin C." From Wikipedia.

What you can see when you look close : ) This tiny patch of orange lichen was growing on a rock at Erik Butters' ranchland, in Benchlands, north west of Calgary.

A neat mix of colours and textures in these various Lichens, photographed on a boulder up at Ptarmigan Cirque, Kananaskis (Rocky Mountains).

This small boulder was lying amongst the trees close to the edge of Forgetmenot Pond, at the end of Elbow Falls Trail (Highway 66), in Kananaskis. I liked the pale green colours and the rather interesting pattern and texture. Thanks, Doug, for the ID suggestions - much appreciated!