Skinny leaves and stretchy cords

Where there is moss in our coastal forests, there is also lichen. I am fascinated by its myriad forms; so intriguing!

Here are some of the photos taken on the moss walk, identified only to general type.

This would be a leaf lichen. Shrub lichens have cylindrical stems; this has flattened stems, like skinny leaves.

Another skinny leaf lichen.

A ruffled leaf, or rag lichen. (Ragbag?)

Appressed leaf lichen. 

A hairy, "beard" lichen, fallen in great clumps from the trees above.

Fuzzy photo through a wet lens. Usnea sp.

This lichen genus (Usnea) is easily identified (to genus, anyhow) by the tough central cord. Our guide is demonstrating here. The cord is elastic; if you pull gently on both ends, it stretches out visibly, uncoiling. Release it, and it springs back.

I brought home a sample. I just re-tested what's left of it, dry and stiff after a week in a bag. It still stretches.

A bit of everything, all growing together. At least four lichens, yellowish shelf mushrooms with purple borders, two mosses, and salal leaves, on a dead branch.

More mixed lichens on an evergreen branch. The recent wet weather brought down many branches from overhead; usually these are out of reach.

This week, I walked most of the Ripple Rock trail, and brought back more moss and lichen photos, as well as some interesting spiders and mushrooms. Then I flipped rocks on the Tyee Spit beach at low tide; a treasure trove! I don't know which I'll post first; all the photos call out to be processed, "now! Me first!"

When it's wet ...

... it's very wet. At least here, in our coastal rain forests. And being wet, it's also green, very green.

Lungwort, a large, leafy lichen, grows on trees. And when the rains are heavy and prolonged, it falls off in great chunks. I picked one up beside our trail in Miracle Beach park, vibrantly green, after weeks of soaking.

Lungwort, Lobaria pulmonaria, on wet log, moss, and maple leaves.

If you look closely (check the middle lobe on the far right), the reproductive structures, soredia and/or isidia, are visible as small, brownish lumps along the edge and the ridges.

Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria or green algae. (Wikipedia)
An isidium is a vegetative reproductive structure ... They are fragile structures and may break off and be distributed by wind, animals, and splashing raindrops. (Wikipedia)

I flipped the lichen over. The underside was lumpy, almost white, except for the pale brown wool in the valleys.

Lungwort underside. Some of the soredia are visible along the edges.

I don't often see this lichen so brilliantly green. Once the rains stop, it dries to a pale yellowish brown.

Lungwort in dry weather. Taken at Brown's Bay, last February.