Lichen

Well, who knew this stuff was so beautiful.

There's a bush in my landlord's front yard that I particularly like because it's some form of willow and in the spring it sprouts the dearest little catkins. I noticed this evening that they're starting to appear so I thought perhaps I'd blip some of them. The pictures I got of the catkins were out of focus but lo and behold, I got a fair picture of lichen growing on the branches, and not just one variety -- at least three, maybe four, and it is soooooo beautiful!

I did a little research and discovered that there are more varieties of lichen than I could probably count -- a whole new world of beauty that will bear investigating. Any lichen lovers out there who would care to point me in the right direction?