Just before I left Australia in March I wrote a post about the autumn fungi I spotted on one of my last walks there ~ I associate fungi with the end of summer so was interested to see this tree fungi here in the Scottish spring!
Whilst most was hanging on the underside of the tree… there was some popping up on the top in between the moss!
There are over 700 species of moss in Great Britain, of which about 100 have been identified as occurring in the Wood of Cree, where this was photographed.
Whilst most occurs around the base of trees…
… including saplings…
it can also be seen growing on the branches ~
My attention was then taken by the most beautiful lichens, which are amazingly formed by a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae.
Some look like coral from an underwater scene 🙂
It is said the presence of lichens reflects the purity of the air as with no roots their well-being is directly related to the atmosphere they are absorbing so they only grow where the air is free of pollutants.
Love the illustration below by Ernst Haeckel of lichens from his Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms of Nature) book published in 1904
"Lichenes" from Ernst Haeckel's Artforms of Nature, 1904
beautiful, so similar in form & colour to the underwater corals we get out here
Lovely photos Linda, you do have a knack for zooming in on quite beautiful specimens! The Ernst Haeckel’s drawing is beautiful too. You and your readers might like this website I came across recently with heaps of line drawings of plants, animals, etc.
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/sitemap/sitemap.php
Phil ~ I tend to think of oceans and what lives underwater as being part of another world… not the case! 🙂
Charley ~ Thanks for that link – there are some beautiful line drawing there 😀