Botanizing

Coyote Flat

2014-04-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Coyote Flat is on the northern end of the SBNF and is starting to burst with wildflowers. The habitat is high desert with areas of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla) and Joshua tree forest (Yucca brevifolia).

This is Anisocoma acaulis.

Check out it's cool leaves and "bud scales" aka phyllaries.

It looks like a painting!

This is Castilleja plagiotoma and it is a Forest Service sensitive species and it is a hemiparasite on big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata).

You can see the fussy yellow flowers sticking their heads out from behind the green bracts.

This is the tiny snakeweed (Chamaesyce sp.) that is mat-forming on the ground.

Ephedra viridis

Some of the amazing granite outcroppings.

Layia glandulosa

Phacelia curvipes

Phlox austromontanum

The teeny Forest Service watch list species Syntrichopappus lemmonii that I have been surveying for recently.

It can be recognized by the crimson stripes on the back of the petals (ray flowers).

Viola sp.

Astragalus douglasii var. parishi

The puffy fruits of Astragalus douglasii var. parishi.

An adorable Cryptantha species that is everywhere.

One of the last things you expect to see in the high desert is a puffball mushroom.

This rock had eroded in an interesting way and eroded parts were filled in with this black lichen.

A cute little lupine (Lupinus sp.).

I have been seeing all kinds of interesting reptiles. This lizard was trying really hard to get away from me.

The view down into the desert from the mountains.

A horny toad! I thought it was dead, but of course it was being super still so it could catch the ants that were crawling on it to eat!

The first flowering Yucca whipplei I have seen.

Another really nice Lupinus.

Mentzelia sp.

Phacelia fremontii

These last three photos were taken of plants that are endemic to the San Bernardino mountains and can only be found on or near pebble plains. Pebble plains are areas that shrubs and trees cannot grow on due to the high amount of clay in the soil. The pebble plains also have lots of quartzite cobbles in the soil.

This is the Forest Service sensitive plant Boechera parishi.

This is the Forest Service sensitive Dudleya abrahamsii var. afinis that is found in rocky outcrops on the pebble plains.

Lomatium parryi

SOBEFREE 19

2014-04-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

At the end of March I attended SOBEFREE 19, which is a bryophyte workshop that is put on annually and is more like a fun reunion for bryologists throughout the country. It was hosted in Boulder Creek, CA, which is outside of Santa Cruz.

It was nice to get back into the rainy redwoods. I had never been in a redwood forest this far south before. There were lots of madrone (Arbutus menziesii), oak species, and unfortunately, poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) mixed in.

Alsia sp.

Antitrichia sp.

Antitrichia sp. under the microscope.

The hornwort Anuera sp.

Atrichum sp.

Brachythecium sp.

The thalloid liverwort Cryptometrium sp.

Dendroalsia sp.

Dicranoweisia sp. mixed in with the lichen Cladonia sp.

Dicranoweisia sp. up close.

Didymodon insulana

Fissidens sp. under the dissecting scope.

The asymmetrical sporophyte of Funaria sp.

The leafy liverwort Jungermannia rubra.

The moss Kindbergia sp.

Kindbergia sp. under the microscope.

A cute little hornwort we found out in the field.

The hornwort population was huge in this spot, probably due to the water seepage out of the hillside.

Lunularia cruciata with the crescent moon shaped gemmae cups.

The gemmae cups carry the asexual liverwort propagules of L. cruciata.

Pohlia sp.

The leafy liverwort Radula bolanderi.

The thalloid liverwort Riccia sp.

I saw the California nutmeg (Torrya californica) out in the field for the first time!

Torrya californica

I Love Joshua Tree NP!

2014-03-10T17:47:00.001-07:00

I was at Joshua Tree National Park this last weekend for a biological soil crust workshop, which was really fun and I learned a lot. Will out in the park checking out lichens and mosses I also got to see some really cool plants! The desert is all new to me and I have fallen in love with it!

One of the three flowering cacti that I saw during the trip. This one was at the Oasis Visitor Center and is beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris).

The flowers of the very common creosote (Larrea tridentata).

More creosote flowers

The creosote bush zoomed out at Keys Ranch.

I believe after seeing this desert mistletoe I have seen all the Phoradendron species in CA! This is Phoradendron california and it is gorgeous!

The red berries are so striking and are eaten by birds.

Phoradendron californica was actually quite common throughout the western side of the park that I visited.

This is a yucca and is potentially Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera).

The spine of pencil cholla (Cylindropuntia ramossisima) are pretty intense.

Pencil cholla from afar

This place is amazing and I have to go back!

The inflorescence of the famous Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia).

Apparently the flower buds of the Joshua Tree can be roasted and eaten.

This is actually back within the boundary of the San Bernadino NF and was taken on my drive back. It was interesting because more of the Joshua Trees were flowering in the SBNF than the JTNP.

This little cutie could be Wallace's Eriophyllum (Eriophyllum wallacei). I didn't have any identification guides for plants with me at the time.

Barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus var lecontei)

Can you spot the gorgeous pink barrel cacti among the rocks?

Interesting rock formation

Some kind of cactus with a Dudleya squished in.

Keys Ranch

Another Dudleya

The inflorescence of a Dudleya getting ready to flower.

I will be going back to Joshua Tree NP for sure!

Biological Soil Crusts in Joshua Tree National Park

2014-03-10T17:18:00.002-07:00

This past weekend I attended a biological soil crust workshop put on by the Desert Institute in Joshua Tree NP. The class was a lot of fun and I learned so much!

The common soil crust gelatinous cyanolichen Collema coccophrum

Collema coccophrum

Placidium andicola

Placidium squamulosum

Clavascidium lacinulatum

Clavascidium lacinulatum is one of the most common soil crust lichens in JTNP

Psora decipiens

Psora decipiens is the gorgeous orange lichen with the white rim. It is uncommon in JTNP.

Peltula patellata

The extremely rare Sarcogyne mitziae which is only known from three locations in the world.

Sarcogyne mitziae is the tiny brown scales on the granite. It is so tiny!

Fulgensia subbracteata

Fulgensia subbracteata is yellow and powdery

Lepraria vouauxii is only known from one location in CA

Lepraria vouauxii

Endocarpon pusillum with some spike moss to the left.

Endocarpon pusillum

Acarospora obpallens

Toninia sedifolia

Toninia sedifolia is the lichen that is covered in white powder called pruina

A culture of one of the filamentous green algae that lichen fungi use to lichenize (to become a lichen) with. It was so cool to look at it under a dissecting microscope and see the 3-D shape!

Just me botanizing

Clavascidium lacinulatum in its natural soil crust habitat in Joshua Tree NP

Collema coccophorum also in its natural habitat

Lepraria vouauxii in its natural habitat with some moss

Mill Creek, Front Country Ranger District

2014-03-10T16:39:00.003-07:00

I have been working with southern CA lichenologist Kerry Knudsen on completing a lichen flora of the San Bernadino National Forest, where I work now. About once a week we go out in the field collecting lichens for identification in different areas of the forest. It is a lot of fun and I am learning a lot about the more cryptic crustose lichens of arid places.

These pictures are from the Mill Creek watershed on the Front Country Ranger District of the SBNF.

Lecanora moralis is common on rock

Dematocarpon americanum

Placynthiella uliginosa is a new record for the SBNF that occurs on moss growing on soil

The biological soil crust containing Placynthiella uliginosa

I spotted this Parmelina coleae on oak. A new record for the forest and it is endemic to CA.

Miners lettuce (Claytonia sp.)

It is hard to believe that there is moss on the SBNF because it is so dry! Of course riparian areas are very different botanically

I'm not sure what the spotted structure is on this liverwort

This snake scared me! It was just hanging out on the path. I checked to make sure there was no rattle first and the head isn't the right shape to be a rattlesnake.

Cool rocks in Mill Creek

There's a Fungus Among Us!

2013-09-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

There is a plethora of different species of fungus here in Minnesota. Here are some of the cool ones I have spotted while working. And some other random photos as well.

Evan thinks that these might be insect eggs but either way they are so cool they way they outline whatever they are on.

This dude was checking us out up in the top of a large aspen tree.

This is a grape fern (Sceptridium dissectum) and it is on the state watch list.

Just showing some more cedar swamp love.

I wonder if I could make a hobbit hole out of a cedar tip up mound....

Just another Malaxis monophyllos var. brachypoda that I found.

The red fruit of Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema )

The pretty Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum).

Sphagnum sporophytes! Did you know that there are 33 species of Sphagnum moss in the state of Minnesota?

A really shiny thalloid liverwort that is probably a species of Conocephallum.

The cool blue fruiting bodies of the Blue Stain fungus. It actually stains the wood blue!

A quite large American Elm (Ulmus americana) which is quite an uncommon sight due to Dutch Elm Disease.

I have no idea what this is but I have been seeing them around lately. They have some kind of root system that attaches them to the ground.

Some more Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) flowers.

I have never seen a fungus like this before.

Indian Pipe is all over the place here.

In Love with a Goblin...Fern

2013-08-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have fallen in love with the Goblin Fern aka Botrychium mormo. It is by far the most adorable species of Botrychium. This probably because it is tiny (think a quarter inch to three and half inches tall) and looks somewhat like a yellowish-green elongated gummy bear.

The Goblin Fern is a special concern species and can only be found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan with the most detections in Cass County, which is in the Chippewa National Forest. I'm proud to say I have contributed roughly 20 new detections this summer!

The reason this little guy is of special concern mainly for two reasons: habitat loss and invasive earthworms. I know what your thinking, how can earthworms be invasive? Well, because Minnesota was glaciated back in the day and that wiped out all the native earthworms. But, because there are 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, people love fishing and brought European earthworms, called Night Crawlers, here for fishing. The Goblin Fern calls home in hardwood forests that have a component of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and basswood (Tilia americana). It roots in the humus layer and leaf litter from these trees. If there is worm impact than the leaf littler layer is thin to nonexistent and B. mormo has nowhere to put down roots.

Because worm invasion is on the rise, elevating the Goblin Fern's status from "special concern" to "threatened"is being considered. To read more check this out.

The Goblin Fern is made up of two parts: the sporophore and the trophophore. In common speak, a spore-bearing structure and a single leaf. The sporangia are the yellowish spherical blobs on the sporophore.

That is pink flagging tape about the Goblin Fern that we use to mark the location.

Alien!

This picture appropriately has a heart-shaped leaf in the background.

Here is an example of a sugar maple and basswood forest. And yes, sugar maple is the species that they use to tap the sap to make maple syrup.

I can't get over how goofy some of them are!

On the right hand side of the picture is a large basswood, which is generally around which I find B. mormo.

The sporangia on this one look like evil little goblin eyes.

Huge!

I'm still surprised that I spotted these two little ones.

You might wonder how I find these tiny ferns. Well, lets just say I have run into and tripped over a fair number of trees while on the hunt.

Iron Springs and Porcupines...and Orchids of Course!

2013-08-03T07:49:00.001-07:00

The snake-like flower of Platanthera orbiculata.

Platanthera orbiculata is yet another orchid species found in the northern white cedar swamps here.

My first sighting of the Grass Pink Calopogon tuberosus var. tuberosus.

Such a beautiful flower!

This is the Dragon's Mouth Orchid Arethusa bulbosa. This species is on the watch list but is not one that we survey for.

This one is definitely a bit bedraggled but it is the only one I have seen so it will have to suffice.

The tiny leaves and flower stalk of the very rare orchid Malaxis paludosa.

It is so tiny! How the heck are we supposed to find this thing?!

Check out those minuscule green flowers. We literally were all sitting right next to this plant and didn't even see it.

A cool iron spring that I found in the woods. It has colored the bases of the cedar red.

I have seen a few iron springs since I started working here but none this cool and picturesque. I don't know very much about them but apparently they are springs that bring up iron deposits to the surface.

Some slime mold growing right on a Lycopodium!

Mmmmm....delicious wild raspberries. They definitely make the flies and mosquitos more bearable!

The hardwood forests are so beautiful here.

Oh yeah, and the lakes too. All 10,000 of them.

It is pretty cool to hear the loons calling when you are close to lakes like this.

Some neat looking mushrooms busting through the bark of this rotting log.

Some Botrychium lanceolatum that I found. It was a huge population, about 80 individuals. It is one of the rarer Botrychium species on the Chippewa.

What a mammoth B. lanceolatum!

It looks to be around eight inches tall. Quite nice to see one this big when they are usually 1-2 inches tall.

The really pretty Purple Fringed Orchid, Platanthera psycodes. The color in this photo really does not do it justice. It was a much richer purple than this shows.

The flower kind of looks like a little ghost.

The blue bead-like fruits of the Blue Bead Lily (Clintonia borealis).

I found this Indian Pipe right along the foot path where I was walking.

Monotropa uniflora

What an adorable little Goblin Fern (Botrychium mormo)!

And here it is, the long awaited porcupine. When it heard/saw me it started climbing up this black ash tree as fast as it could go, which is not very fast. But too fast for me to get a very close picture.

Here are all the trees it has been munching on. Apparently it eats the cambium layer of the tree and can sometimes girdle the tree, which it is getting pretty close to doing on some of these.

These Rattlesnake Plantains (Goodyera repens) are blooming all over the place!

This frog was nice enough to stay still for a picture. There are so many baby frogs out right now. Every time I take a step one hops out of my way.

Here is some Malaxis monophyllos var. brachypoda that I found. Three new detections all in one site!

Such tiny little flowers. It likes to grow next to mossy pools in cedar and black ash swamps.

One of the nicer looking Sticta fuliginosa that I have seen.

I leave you with a picture of Malaxis uniflolia. The only one of the three species in Minnesota that we do not survey for.

Swamp Walking

2013-07-13T11:18:00.002-07:00

So many cool things to see in my swampy travels!

The beautiful flowers of the carnivorous Pitcher Plant (Saracinia purpurea).

The flower is so cool looking!

These are quite a beautiful sight to behold while sloshing through the Tamarack and Northern White Cedar swamps.

The leaves of the Pitcher Plant are full of water and digestive enzymes to eat whatever unsuspecting insects land on those slippery hairs at the mouth of the opening. Kinda looks like a mouth doesn't it?

My first sighting of the rare (or threatened, I'm not really sure) Goldie's Fern (Dryopteris goldiana).

This is a beautiful fern and even seems to have a little gold coloring in the middle of the pinnae.

The unopened inflorescence of Platanthera clavellata. There are only two known locations of this rare orchid on the Chippewa.

The minute flowers of the rare orchid Malaxis monophyllos var. brachypoda.

Some adorable little carnivorous Sundews (Drosera rotundifolia). Others I have seen have red sticky hairs and are very striking.

Finally some evidence of all the mosquitos they have around here! They always try to get at my hands and fingers when I am taking pictures. This is the orchid Amerorchis rotundifolia and I can never seem to get a very good picture of it.

The flowers of the orchid Platanthera unifolia just starting to unfold.

Finally starting to see some Grape Ferns!

The Grape Fern Sceptridium multifidum.

Sceptridium dissectum

Some Botrychium matricharifolium with maturing spores.

The rare Grape Fern Sceptridium rugulosum.

This is one of the more ridiculous Northern White Cedar tip up mounds I have seen. I could have almost walked inside this one.

The rare Goblin Fern Botrychium mormo. This little guy is tiny and likes moist hardwood forests just like the mosquitos unfortunately. Not much fun when this thing is so small and requires looking underneath the underbrush!

This doesn't look like much but this is what the edge of a floating Sphagnum moss mat looks like. You never really know how deep the water actually is unless you break through and you definitely do not want that to happen. It feels like you are walking on top of an air mattress on water. Just a little bit freaky. I ended up in a few soft spots where I started slowly sinking so I got out of there quick!

Sorry for the blurry photo but this is my first detection of the rare Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis).

It looks a lot like a fir sapling but is a richer green and has fatter needles with a pointed tip.

This is Northern Oak Fern (Gymnocarpium robertianum) and I found two new detections of it! Before that there only four known locations on the Chippewa. Notice the delicious Dewberry (Rubus pubescens) to the right of the fern. So awesome to snack on wild berries and botanize at the same time!

A very common orchid in the swamps at this time of year, Platanthera obtusata var. obtusata.

I will finish this with a very cool collection of Cladonia species in this old cut off telephone pole.

Orchids and Mosquitos

2013-07-04T12:22:00.003-07:00

Platanthera hookeri

This orchid should be called The Adder Mouth Orchid because the flowers look just like the mouth of a snake about to bite you!

Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens

These False Truffles are definitely not good to eat.

I finally took a decent photo of a cedar tip up in a cedar swamp.

I think I could write a book on tick behavioral biology at the end of this job.

Some cool orange wood rotting fungi.

The rare Moonwort Botrychium crenulatum.

Another rare Moonwort, Botrychium pallidum. These guys are tiny and really hard to spot out in the field!

I love seeing all these frogs and toads because they are cute and they eat mosquitos.

Another beautiful Coral Root Orchid, Corallorhiza maculata.

The very common Moonwort, Botrychium virginianum.

The sporophore of B. virginianum.

The young fruit of the Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta).

The Showy Lady Slipper (Cypripedium reginae) is the Minnesota state flower and you can see why.

It is huge and gorgeous.

This is the flower of the One Flowered Wintergreen (Moneses uniflora)

There are lots of interesting fungi in the hardwood forests.

Not sure of the species of this Iris but it is quite a sight in the swamps.

Slime mold!

Platanthera aquilonis most likely, but it might still be too early to tell.

This tiny little orchid is called Listera cordata.

This is a little wild cranberry (Oxycoccus quadripetalus).

Twin Flower (Linnaea borealis)

A very interesting caterpillar that hitched a ride on my vest for a little while.

These are the young female cones of the deciduous conifer called Tamarack (Larix laricina). They look just like rose buds.

Pink Pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia)

I have only found this lichen three times out in the forest! It is Platismatia tuckermannii.

This is what I look like out in the field now that it is mosquito and fly season! That bug net really saves my sanity some days.

Chippewa National Forest

2013-06-14T10:06:00.004-07:00

Here are some of the plants and lichens that I have been lucky enough to check out at work:

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

The furry leaves of the Wild Ginger.

The Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) swamps that I get to tromp around in to look for rare orchids and lichens!

Throughout the swamps there are these half fallen trees that make a really cool landscape.

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

The rare lichen Usnea angulata

This plant is called Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

This is why it is called Bloodroot.

Dicentra cucullaria

Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens)

This spring is beautiful here!

Nodding Trillium (Trillium cernuum)

Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla)

Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Peltigera apthosa

Sticta beauvosii is another lichen species that we survey for.

The striking leaves of the Rattlesnake Orchid (Goodyera repens)

My first detection of the Calypso orchid!

Calypso bulbosa

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)

The only known sighting of the Yellow Speckle Belly Lichen (Psuedocyphellaria crocata) in Chippewa National Forest. So pretty!

The very rare Ramshead Lady Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

The Coral Root Orchid (Corallorhiza striata var. striata)

Corallorhiza trifida

Bog Laurel (Kalmia polifolia)

Labrador Tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) smells so good and it covers the sunny patches in the swamps!

Blue Bead Lily (Clintonia borealis)

The Pink Lady Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)

The Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) looks just like our California Columbine.

Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin

Gorgeous!

Wild Calla (Calla palustris)

Model Lichens

2012-03-25T02:36:00.001-07:00

My husband took these fancy photos of some of the lichens I have collected for my project. Most of these specimens were found in the Quercus ilex dominated forests around the island.

This is Xanthoria parietina var. parietina and it was found on a calcareous rock in Parc Natural de Llevant across the island from Palma.

Ramalina fraxinea

Usnea hirta

Check out that central cord on this Usnea articulata!

Peltigera canina

Ramalina farinacea

Ramalina fastigiata

Parmelia sulcata

Ramalina pusilla

Physcia biziana

It has been really interesting to note how many of these species are found in the Pacific Northwest of California. Species such as Usnea hirta, Peltigera canina, Ramalina farinacea, and many more.

Also, I apologize for the condition of some of these samples. Many have seen better days.

There's a Fungus Among Us!

2012-03-23T02:54:00.004-07:00

Here are a few pictures of some cool fungus I found on a hike in Valldemossa:

This wood rotter was found on a small Quercus ilex. It has a really cool poroid hymenophore.

This spot had several of these puffballs...

Have to love Ascomycota!

Alien Sighting in Bunyola

2012-02-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

We were too late to catch the bus to Valldemossa so instead we went somewhere new, Bunyola. It has a nice mix of pine and oak forest and some really cliffs that you can see here.

A close up of the apothecia of a Diploschistes sp.

This Diploschistes was found growing on some mosses.

I have been on a mission to find this brilliant orange lichen appropriately called the Golden Eye Lichen (Teloschistes chrysophthalmus).

It is so cool looking with the bright orange apothecia with the cilia lined margins!

Some yellow-orange Xanthoria parietina mixed in with Physcia leptalea.

Some of these twigs of Quercus ilex are just COVERED in lichens! This looks like a nice mix of X. parietina, Physcia leptalea, a Parmelia sp., and some bits of a Ramalina sp.

A tiny gelatinous-looking fungus poking its fruiting bodies out through the bark of a Q ilex twig.

Some Targionia sp. growing on a muddy cliff face.

This is not technically botany but these bug eggs are really awesome!

These earth stars (Geastrum sp.) were everywhere in the higher elevation areas around 300 meters and higher.

A beautiful gelatinous lichen that was very prevalent on many of the rocky cliff faces. It was frequently found with mosses.

This is likely to be Euphorbia characias subsp. characias. It flowers from February to July and apparently has some medicinal properties.

A good looking crustose lichen.

Another good looking crustose lichen.

The strange mushroom that is Clathrus ruber. Unfortunately it was over the hill when I saw it. Check it out in its prime!

This is definitely one of the stranger fungi I have ever seen. It looks like some kind of cast off alien biomass! I had a feeling I new this one from somewhere and I was thinking of the family Phallaceae...

When I was at the University, I was waiting in the botany lab and picked up a book on Catalunian fungi and lo and behold I saw my mystery fungus when I started flipping through the Phallaceae section!

Yep, definitely some kind of alien flesh...

A wood rotter at the base of a Q. ilex.

A good shot of the trail I took through the forest in Bunyola. Definitely headed back there!

I FOUND AN ORCHID!!!

2012-02-04T03:46:00.000-08:00

I went to Valldemossa yesterday to get out of the city and do a little collecting for my lichens project. We went up a different trail than we usually do and I stumbled upon a pleasant surprise!I think I found either Ophrys dyris or Ophrys fusca. I think there is a better chance that it is O. fusca because, according to the Virtual Herbarium, it is very common and starts blooming in the winter and early spring. It is a very beautiful orchid but there are a lot of different species of Ophrys on the island that look somewhat similar.

Check it out!

It kinda looks like it is imitating a fly don't you think?

Sporophytes

Some mosses starting to dry out and curl up their leaves to preserve water.

I have no idea what these are but they look really cool close up.

Look at all that Ramalina pusilla just covering the acebuche!

The town of Valldemossa, which appropriately means "Valley of the Mosses" in Catalan.

There is a wide diversity of ferns but I unfortunately don't know much about ferns so I can't tell you what they are.

Cladonia pyxidata looking quite squamulose.

More Cladonia pyxidata. It is really common here.

A cool shot of some kind of caterpillar on a wood rotting fungus with very cool lamellae.

Three tall sporophytes

A moss on the verge of elevating it's sporophytes. Look at all those silvery awns!

A very small leafy liverwort that looked like a green film from far away. It was covering the soil of a cut cliff face.

A close-up of the flowers of Erica multiflora.

A species of Parmelia.

Another species of Parmelia.

Slimy little guy...

Peltigera membranacea looks so cool growing mixed in with the mosses.

This stuff looks so awesome close up! Get me a microscope for my birthday por favor?!

Cladonia rangiformis mixed in with some mosses.

Evernia prunastri

Another Parmelia species mixed in with what looks like some Frullania on a dead snag.

Versaille

2012-01-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

So while I was in Paris I toured Versaille on a very cold and windy day. There was not much going on in the way of angiosperms but I did see some awesome lichens and bryophytes!

Some kind of Azalea that is partially covered in some kind of Xanthoria species.

Close up of the Xanthoria.

This is just a cool photo with the contrast of the red bark and the orange-yellow Xanthoria.

Check out all that Physcia adscendens! It was about as prolific as the Xanthoria but less obvious because of its color.

It was surprising how numerous these lichens were on these bushes because they were quite small and young looking (no obvious pruning scars). It didn't take much time for these lichens to take up shop!

Just me botanizing and trying to stay warm at the same time.

More Physcia adscendens and Xanthoria up close and personal.

This little bryophyte is a bit of a mystery to me because the sporophyte looks very dehiscent like a typical hornwort but the leaves look like a classic moss! Silvery awns included!

Winter Blooms

2011-12-19T09:32:00.001-08:00

The male flowers of the algarrobo (Ceratonia siliqua).

A common shrub in the area.

The capsules of the above mentioned plant with seeds still inside.

I am really upset because I can't figure out what this beautiful vine is!!!

Hmm...many stamens and stigmas.....four petals.....I don't know where this floral formula gets me!!!

This is Allium chamaemoly and I feel pretty lucky to have seen it because it is tiny and just barely sticks out of the ground. It flowers from November to March and I only saw two individuals!

Yes, these are as sharp as they look and they are all over the place! This prickly guy is Aspargus horridus, a quite appropriate name if I do say so myself.

Lichens, Bryophytes, and Fungus...I Oh My!

2011-12-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

This was covering the majority of the cement walls at the Bellver Forest and I think it is Buellia canescens, but don't quote me on that!

Unknown little blue crustose lichen. This was the only place I saw this specimen.

Unknown white and black crustose lichen that was very common on soil mixed in with bryophyte species.

The common gelatinous cyanolichen Leptogium brebissonii.

I think this is the liverwort Fossombronia and it was all over the place! Did not have the luck to see any sporophytes with hyaline setae.

And another crustose lichen on a rock. One day I will know what it is.

This terricolous lichen is all over the place as well but I can't seem to figure out what it is!

A tiny epilithic crustose lichen.

Good 'ol Xanthoria parietina. This time on a rock!

Caldonia pyxidata without fruiting bodies.

Cladonia pyxidata with fruiting bodies.

So cool! A very cute lichen if I do say so myself.

Is this gelatinous cyanolichen Collema nigrescens (which I'm pretty sure I did see but didn't collect! grrr) or is it just more Leptogium brebissonii.

The beauty that are bryophytes.

A nice robust moss. Or musgo, in Spanish.

Some kind of cute little Peziza.

Moss and a mushy.

Moss and another mushy.

Some Xanthoria parietina on an wild olive tree (Olea europea var. sylvestris).

A crustose epiphyte that could be Lecanora dispersa.

More X. parietina.

Crustosos!

Cladonia rangiformis just carpets the ground in some areas.

Cladonia rangiformis

A nice shot of Ramalina pusilla.

The tiny Physcia adscendens.

Some Ramalina pusilla and a white and grey crusty.

Sóller

2011-12-18T03:31:00.000-08:00

Some huge and gorgeous mushrooms we ran into on the side of the road.

Check out those lamellae!

Probably some introduced Aloe vera or Aloe arborescens growing out of a stone wall.

A nice close-up of the terricolous lichen Cladonia rangiformis.

Some kind of brown rotter on an olive tree.

Cubical brown rot.

Bosque de Bellver

2011-12-17T04:13:00.000-08:00

Oxalis pes-caprae is an invasive species that is very prevalent all over the island. It is a beautiful bright green with yellow flowers.

Arisarum vulgare was also carpeting the space that wasn't already occupied by trees, shrubs or Oxalis pes-caprae.

Lentisco (Pistacia lentiscus) is a very common shrub that I have seen all over the island with very bright berries. It is a member of the Anacardiaceae family.

Pinus halepensis is the dominant conifer species here on the island.

Some wild lavender (Lavendula dentata).

Going after a crustose lichen on a lentisco.

A little community garden at the foot of the Bellver Castle.

Checking out some invasive Opuntia that can be seen all over the island.

Anagyris foetida is a beautiful shrub that I have seen a few times during my explorations on Mallorca. This plant is supposedly toxic so do not eat it!

A closeup of the acebuche (Olea europaea var. sylvestris) fruits.

That cute little ascocarp to the left of the terricolous lichen I believe is Peziza subviolacea. The amazing folks at the University of the Balearic Islands also have a virtual herbarium of fungi! Unfortunately, for those of you that do not speak Castellano or Catalan, there is no English version. Luckily scientific names are universal!

Possibly an Amanita species? I have seen this guy all over the island in mountains and in fields.

This wood rotter I encountered on a P. halepensis reminded me a lot of Porodedaelea pini.

The flowers of the madroño (Arbutus unedo).

Valldemossa

2011-11-19T14:28:00.001-08:00

Hypericum balearicum is a species endemic to the Balearic Islands and is in the Guttiferae. I saw it all over the place on this hike but this one was the only one I saw flowering because they typically flower between March and July.

The flower of Hypericum balearicum.

This is madroño (Arbutus unedo) and I saw two large, almost tree-like, specimens on this hike around Valldemossa.

The fruit of the madroño. It was quite sweet but a little granular like a pear.

Juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus) was quite common and very bushy. This one was the only male plant that I saw.

Moss = musgo in Spanish.

What a cute little Cladonia lichen!

Check out the apothecia on this bad boy!

Puffball or primordia?

Ephedra fragilis

Ephedra in its natural habitat.

Tiny!

Tinier!

This was more than just mold, it was definitely some kind of dense fungus in a non-mushroom form, probably an Ascomycete. It was growing on fallen leaves, dirt and rocks.

Some very slimy Basidios.

Russula?

Check out those lamellae!

This fruticose lichen has very spiky apothecia.

Now is the time for mushrooms with all the rainfall we have been getting.

Some decomposing mushrooms.

Mushrooms pre-decomposition.

Some puffball mushrooms.

The water droplets on the spore mass inside the puffball look so cool!

Checking out an aeroid species with beautiful leaves.

These white mushrooms were all over the place.

Can't wait to see what flowers these beautiful leaves come up with.

A tiny little wood-rotter.

The dried up inflorescence of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare).

La Trapa

2011-11-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

We went on a hike in La Trapa in the northern part part of Mallorca near the tiny town of Sant Elm in the Tramuntana mountain range.

Merendera filifolia

I had never seen anything like these specimens of the Lilliaceae that grow directly out of the ground! When I saw one for the first time I thought someone had picked the flower and stuck it in the ground. And then I saw them everywhere!

Viola arborescens is a very distinctive violet because the leaves are not heart-shaped.

Arisarum vulgare was abundant all along the trail at all elevations. The common name for A. vulgare here in Mallorca is frailillo. This name means "little friar" because the leaf surrounding the inflorescence looks like the hood of a friar and the inflorescence itself looks like the friar's big nose.

This really is a gorgeous specimen of the Araceae. And to think, in November! The flowering time is apparently December to March and they are very common here.

A pretty wide variety of colors on these guys. Unfortunately my camera wouldn't focus.

Me botanizing.

See the little purple heads of the Arisarum vulgare flowers poking up above the bright green foliage?

Leafy liverwort or some kind of Lycophyta?

Wild rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) or Romero, as it is called in Spanish is also very abundant on the island.

Some kind of poroid Basidiomycete that was absolutely everywhere in the lower elevation parts of the hike.

You can somewhat see the poroid hymenophore in this picture.

I wish I had gotten a chance to look at these mushrooms more closely but they were not that common and the group we were with was keeping up quite a fast pace.

What stunning color. I wish I had an amazing website at my fingertips for fungus like I do for flowers with the Virtual Herbarium.

Crocus cambessedesii is called Safrá and is an endemic species of Mallorca and Menorca. It flowers from September to December in rocky areas. The leaves pop out after the plant is done flowering.

The heart shaped leaves in this picture are from the frailillo.

The climate here is pretty arid, with lots of Pino Carrasco (Pinus halepensis) everywhere.

Heather (Erica multiflora) was also very abundant and very much in flower.

I will definitely be returning to La Trapa more towards the springtime to check out what plants are starting to flower!

Some Pretty Pictures

2011-11-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

My husband is a photographer and took these pictures:

I just figured out that this tropical cultivar is called Boussingaultia cordifolia.

I am pretty sure that this is Alyssum spinosum but I am going by pictures and descriptions in the website that is created and maintained by the University of the Balearic Islands. This species looks like cultivar Alyssum.

A beautiful Asteraceae species that I was too lazy to try and key out/search for in the hundreds of specimens they have documented in the herbarium website.

¡Que bonita!

Algarrobo

2011-11-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

I went to the Jardín Botánico de Sóller yesterday and was able to snap a couple pictures even though I was there on a field trip with my school.

Here are a few pictures of a common native tree around here called Algarrobo (Ceratonia siliqua) that is in the Fabaceae.

These long pods that can be up to 20 cm in length smell like strong, stinky(or delicious depending on who you are)cheese. These trees are common here interspersed between almond trees because farm animals like pigs, goats and sheep eat the pods.

These dried fruits belong to a species that is closely related to our beloved Madrone (Arbutus menziesii)in Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties. It is called Madroño here in Mallorca. This particular species is found on the Canary Islands, hence the name Arbutus canariensis.

I hope to return to this botanical garden sometime soon in the future to check out some more native species!

La Universidad de Las Islas Baleares

2011-10-28T02:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met with Professor Maurici Mus, a botanist at the University of the Balearic Islands. He was very helpful to me by showing me various books that I could purchase to help with my lichens project and to identify plant species on Mallorca and providing me with contact info for other botanists in the area. He also offered up the use of the microscopes and other resources in the botany lab whenever I needed them.

It was really great going there because the botany department here reminded me so much of the botany department back home at Humboldt. It was crowded with full pictures of plants, potted plants, and microscopes. I don't know what I was expecting, but it made me feel happy to see how similar things can be even if they are across the world.

Check out the Virtual Herbarium!