Tiny Tuesday : : Lace Lichen

There are still branches falling out of our oak trees which were trimmed quite severely about a month ago. I couldn't resist picking up a small branch about an inch and a half in diameter which was covered with different kinds of lichen

Looking through the macro lens at a small branch covered with so many different kinds of lichen entertained me for quite awhile this afternoon. Lace lichen, Ramalina menziesii , is one of the more fascinating ones. It is the only species in North America to take this unique form. I've photographed it a lot over the years, but it always presents itself differently. I sent some to Blipper Nana K who made faerie wings out of it with her granddaughter. I left the stick on the table on the porch because it is quite decorative....

I went for a walk with a friend this morning and took her home because her daughter needed her car. She and her husband have a very unusual pole house, open underneath and supported on big poles which run from the ground through the roof. We sat outside drinking coffee and admiring the view almost straight across Bennett Valley and Rincon Valley to our house. We both moved here at the same time, she and her husband from  New Hampshire, and were introduced by our  realtor. 

She had a basket in her kitchen full of lace lichen which had fallen out of the housefinch nests under the eaves of her porch. Lichens are known for their sensitivity to air pollution and can also be used to monitor air quality and climate change.

Ramalina menziesii  was named the official state lichen for California by Governor Jerry Brown in 2016. Oddly enough, it also makes California the only state to recognize lichen as a state symbol...another first for the Golden State....