Next Hike

The next hike will be on Saturday, 29th October.

We meet at the Ballpark at Gillies Bay at 10:00am.

A lichen is not just one organism, but a fungus and algae living together to form a new organism. Each of the two kinds of plants do best if they are living together, but each can often survive separately. My photo, which I took on the last midweek hike, is of Cladonia coccifera one species of a group of lichens that are found worldwide in the northern arctic and tundra regions.  A common name for some species of Cladonia is reindeer or caribou moss although they are of course lichens and not mosses.  An interesting feature of these two similar mammal species is that they have microorganisms in their digestive systems that help them digest the lichens that form such an important part of their diet. While lichens tend to be very slow growing, often just a millimetre or two a year, they readily absorb and concentrate atomic radiation which can be harmful to the animals which feed on it.

JD.

Sometimes called British Soldiers this lichen, Cladonia coccifera, is quite common on Texada.