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Trish and I just spent some time in the Pacific Northwest. If you've ever been in a forest in that area, you probably noticed that many of the trees are covered in green stuff. PHOTO ONE is from Ike Kinswa State Park, near Mossyrock, Washington. All this green stuff makes me think of a magical forest, where you might see gnomes or fairies.
The plants covering those branches are mostly mosses. The Pacific Northwest is home to about 1,000 species of mosses, many of which grow on the branches of trees. Mosses are what we call nonvascular plants—they do not have veins to carry water and nutrients up the plant. Therefore, they cannot grow very tall because they have to soak up water from rain and from the surface they are growing on.
Many trees in the Pacific Northwest are also covered by lichens. Check out the PHOTO TWO. The bright green and brown plant in the center of this photo is an example of moss. Surrounding the moss are two types of lichens—one type that grows in flat lobes, and another type that grows as long, thin, branching filaments.
Lichens are nothing like mosses. Lichens are actually a bizarre partnership, in which a fungus lives together with a type of algae (or sometimes a cyanobacteria). The fungus provides a moist, safe place for the algae to live. The algae provides food for both the organisms by doing photosynthesis. Nature is so cool!
Well, as I was looking into the forest from the balcony of a cabin we stayed in for a few days, I saw this tree with something long and stringy growing on it. PHOTO THREE.
This stringy stuff is NOT Spanish moss (which grows on trees in the southeast USA and is actually a type of air plant called a bromeliad). This stuff is also not a type of moss (there are some long stringy mosses that hang from trees in the Pacific Northwest).
How do I know it's not a moss? Because when I zoomed in on it, what I saw is shown in PHOTO FOUR.
These long strands with little filaments sticking out in all directions indicate that this is a lichen called bearded lichen, or Methuselah's beard lichen. It is the longest lichen in the world, growing to twenty feet in length!
This is why I love being outdoors. Every living thing you see—if you pay attention and learn more about it—is unique and spectacular in its own way.
The plants covering those branches are mostly mosses. The Pacific Northwest is home to about 1,000 species of mosses, many of which grow on the branches of trees. Mosses are what we call nonvascular plants—they do not have veins to carry water and nutrients up the plant. Therefore, they cannot grow very tall because they have to soak up water from rain and from the surface they are growing on.
Many trees in the Pacific Northwest are also covered by lichens. Check out the PHOTO TWO. The bright green and brown plant in the center of this photo is an example of moss. Surrounding the moss are two types of lichens—one type that grows in flat lobes, and another type that grows as long, thin, branching filaments.
Lichens are nothing like mosses. Lichens are actually a bizarre partnership, in which a fungus lives together with a type of algae (or sometimes a cyanobacteria). The fungus provides a moist, safe place for the algae to live. The algae provides food for both the organisms by doing photosynthesis. Nature is so cool!
Well, as I was looking into the forest from the balcony of a cabin we stayed in for a few days, I saw this tree with something long and stringy growing on it. PHOTO THREE.
This stringy stuff is NOT Spanish moss (which grows on trees in the southeast USA and is actually a type of air plant called a bromeliad). This stuff is also not a type of moss (there are some long stringy mosses that hang from trees in the Pacific Northwest).
How do I know it's not a moss? Because when I zoomed in on it, what I saw is shown in PHOTO FOUR.
These long strands with little filaments sticking out in all directions indicate that this is a lichen called bearded lichen, or Methuselah's beard lichen. It is the longest lichen in the world, growing to twenty feet in length!
This is why I love being outdoors. Every living thing you see—if you pay attention and learn more about it—is unique and spectacular in its own way.
Photo Credits:
All photos by Stan C. Smith
All photos by Stan C. Smith
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