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Moss |
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Pin
cushion moss:
Form:
Hummock-forming moss.
Colour: Bluish-green.
Height: 3 to 9 cm
tall and 30 to 50 cm in diameter.
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Fire
moss:
Form: Mats or tufts.
Colour: Dirty
green, yellowish-brown or reddish.
Height: 1.8 to 2
mm long leaves.
Fruiting bodies:
Cylindrical capsules, 2 to 4 mm long, stalks purplish red, 8 to 30 mm
long (illustrated in image).
Location: Burwash
Date: April 18, 2010
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Fire moss in fruit
over a disturbed area of sandy soil. The red colour comes from
the red stalk of the fruit stem.
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Plume
moss:
Form: Distinctive
feather- or plume-like shape; grows in patches.
Colour: Bright
green to gold.
Height: 1 to 11 cm
tall - image is about 1 cm tall, taken in early spring.
Leaves: Egg-shaped
to triangular.
Fruiting bodies:
Oblong to cylindrical capsules, curved, 2 to 3 mm long, horizontal;
stalks reddish-brown, 25 to 45 mm long.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 19, 2003
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Detailed view of
small Plume moss growing on a rock. The length of each plume is about
2.5 cm.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 19, 2003
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Ribbed
bog moss:
Form: Erect stems
with woolly reddish-brown to creamy covering tip; tuffs or clusters;
stems covered with reddish-brown hairs.
Colour:
Yellowish-green to yellowish-brown.
Height: 3 to 9 cm tall.
Leaves: Egg-shaped
to lance-shaped, blunt or pointed tip.
Fruiting bodies:
Cylindrical capsules, curved, leaning or horizontal to erect,
reddish-brown, 2 to 3 mm long.
See
image of fruit below. |
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Ribbed bog moss:
Fruit - taken
April 2, 2000. |
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Common brown peat moss:
Form: Dense
brownish green, rounded, cushion-like hummocks.
Colour: Dark- to
rust-brown, occasionally greenish.
Height: Stems up
to 10 cm tall.
Leaves: Stem
leaves are tongue-shaped with rounded tip.
Fruiting bodies:
Not common; dark brown to black capsules. |
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Common
peat moss
Form: Forms light
green carpets in cedar or tamarack swamps.
Colour: Light
green to slightly yellow.
Leaves: Stem
leaves are many branched; flat star-shaped tips.
Fruiting Body: Uncommon
Habitat: Wet
conifer or hardwood swamps.
Location: Bog on
west side of McVittie Road, close to intersection with Secord Road
Date: October 5, 2003
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Shaggy
peat moss:
Form: Heads have
prominent terminal buds surrounded by short, loosely clustered branches.
Colour: Bright to
pale green or yellowish.
Height: Masses in
wet areas.
Leaves: Stem
leaves are oblong to tongue-shaped with rounded tip.
Fruiting bodies:
Rounded, dark brown to black capsules on short stalks.
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Shaggy
moss (electrified cat's tail moss):
Form:
Wide-spreading masses.
Colour: Dark- to
bright-green or yellowish-green.
Height: Up to 10
cm tall.
Leaves: Stem
leaves egg- to heart-shaped, with a long tapered and pointed tip.
Fruiting bodies:
Cylindrical, curved capsules, horizontal to hanging; stalks reddish-brown.
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Juniper
moss
Form: Extensive
mats, upward growing.
Colour: Green,
bluish-green to reddish-brown.
Height: 1-13 cm.
Other: Occurs in
virtually all soils, wet or dry, usually in dry open areas.
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Warnstorf's
Peat Moss
Form: Forms masses
or carpets and low hummocks.
Colour: Red where
growing in the sun or green with red stem where growing in shade.
Height: Up to 5 cm tall.
Leaves: Branch
leaves are egg-shaped to lance-shaped.
Fruiting bodies: Uncommon.
Habitat:
Indicative of wet, calcium-rich (calcareous) swamps and fens.
Location: Bog on
west side of Highway 69 across from Trout Lake Road
Date: October 11, 2003
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Lichen |
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Pixie
Cup, possibly False Pixie Cup (Cladonia
chlorophaea)
Form: Erect cup
lichen; hollow, cup-like growths. Cups are unbranched, round-toothed,
and curled inward on margins.
Colour: Cups are
greenish mineral-grey; brown on cup margins.
Height: Cups are
0.5 to 1.5 cm tall.
Habitat: Common on
rocks, on forest floor, and most soil types, and on rotting wood;
commonly found within mosses.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 19, 2003
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Waxpaper
lichen (Parmelia
sulcata) or possibly Hammered
Shield Lichen (Parmelia sulcata)
Form: Lichen with
a leaf-like body; has a net-like appearance; lobes.
Colour: Grey-green
colour on upper surface; undersurface is brown at the edges and black
in the middle; granules on the surface are used for reproduction.
Height: Flat on
surface; Up to 10 cm wide; lobes may be up to 5 mm wide.
Distinctive:
Fruiting bodies are not common.
Habitat: Occurs on
trees, logs, and sometimes rock. It is quite common on Poplar in the
Sudbury and Burwash area.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 19, 2003.
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Treeflute
lichen
Form: Lichen that
grows flat on the surface of trees; dendritic shape.
Colour:
Grey-coloured to light green surface.
Height: Flat on
surface; Up to 20 cm wide.
Habitat: Occurs on
trees and logs. It is quite common on coniferous trees in this area
Location: Burwash
Date: December 23, 2003.
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British
Soldiers (Cladonia
cristatella)
Form: Cup lichen
with hollow clubs that lack cups.
Colour: Clubs are
yellowish or grey. Tips of clubs are red.
Height: Clubs are
1 to 2 cm tall.
Distinctive:
British soldiers have NO cups, unlike other cup lichens.
Interest: The
little red "caps" resemble the red hats worn by British
troops that were stationed in the Americas; hence, its common name
"British Soldier Lichen."
Location: Paddy Creek
Date: April 20, 2003.
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Woolly
foam lichen (Stereocaulon
tomentosum)
Form: Occurs as
mounds or mats close to the surface of rocks; branches have a woolly coating.
Colour: Whitish t-
grayish-green in colour.
Height: Mound may
be up to 10 cm tall.
Habitat: Occurs on
rocks, on soil, and on humus material.
Location: Secord
Road area
Date: October 5, 2003.
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Reindeer
lichen (Cladina
rangiferina)
Form: Ascending shrub-like or
mound-like shape; distinct, round stem with numerous branches.
Colour: Fibrous, ash-grey surface
(Cladina rangiferina).
Distinctive feature: True
reindeer lichen is ash-grey in colour. Yellow-green lichen is similar
in appearance, but it yellow-green in colour.
Height: 6 to 10 cm tall.
Habitat: Occurs on rock surfaces,
moist swamps, on coniferous forest floor.
Potential uses: Used in floral
craft trade, although slow growth discourages large-scale production.
Location: Rocky
area, west side of McVittie Road near intersection with Secord Road.
Date: October 5, 2003.
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Yellow-green
lichen (Cladina mitis)
Form: Ascending shrub-like or
mound-like shape; distinct, round stem with numerous branches.
Colour: Fibrous, greenish-yellow surface.
Distinctive feature: Yellow-green
lichen is similar in appearance to Reindeer lichen, but yellow-green
lichen differs in colour from the ash-grey-coloured Reindeer lichen.
Height: 6 to 10 cm tall.
Habitat: Very common on rock
surfaces and less commonly moist swamps, and common on open areas of
coniferous forest floor.
Potential uses: Used in floral
craft trade, although slow growth discourages large-scale production.
Location: Secord Road
Date: October 5, 2003
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Comparison of Reindeer lichen
(ash-grey colour) on the left and Yellow-green lichen (green colour)
on the right.
Location: Secord Road
Date: October 5, 2003
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Bighorn
cladonia or possibly Power Horn Lichen (Cladonia coniocraea)
Form: Club-shaped lichen; pointed
growths that may rarely have small and irregular cups; not branched
Colour: Whitish-green to brownish.
Fruiting body: Not common.
Distinctive feature: The erect,
stick- or club-shaped form is distinctive.
Height: Up to 3 cm tall.
Habitat: Occurs on moist humus,
rock surfaces, rotting wood, and tree bases.
Location: West
side of McVittie Road near intersection with Secord Road
Date: October 5, 2003
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Rock
tripe (Umbilicaria)
Form: Resembles a leathery dark
lettuce leaf, up to about 8 cm wide, attached at its
centre to a rocky surface; flaky black leafy lichen;
rounded form.
Colour: Black or grey.
Height: Low growing against the
rocky surface.
Habitat: Common on granitic and
other "acidic" rocks in open areas.
Use: Human consumption of lichen
is not easy because of the acids and other compounds. However,
caribou and elk eat lichens.
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Sunburst
lichen (Xanthoria
elegans)
Form: Resembles a puckered
surface; grows in concentric zones outward.
Colour: Orange.
Height: Low growing against the
rocky surface.
Interest: Is specific to rocks
that are rich in calcium and magnesium, derived from the dark
coloured olivine, serpentine, and pyroxene minerals in the rock.
Location: Dyke
expose in Cloud Bay, south of Thunder Bay.
Date: May 1, 2002.
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Powdered
Funnel Cladonia (Cladonia carneola)
Form: Erect cup-shaped lobes that
are dense, loose, or scattered, 1-5 mm long, 1 mm wide; ascending or
horizontal; edges crenulate or deeply incised.
Colour: Light green.
Height: Up to 1.5 cm tall.
Habitat: Grows on humus-rich
soil, stumps, and rotten wood, sometimes on tree trunks.
Location: Secord Road
Date: April 21, 2003.
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Old
Man's beard (Usnea
hirta)
Form: A hanging shrub lichen with
a yellowish-green coloured branches.
Colour: Yellowish-green.
Height: Up to 15 cm long.
Habitat: Grows on bark and twigs
of conifers, such as white spruce, black spruce, and tamarack, and
less commonly deciduous trees.
Uses: Used in the floral and
craft trades.
Location: High
Falls, Thunder Bay.
Date: May 1, 2002.
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Spotted
Dog Lichen (Peltigera aphthosa); also known as Freckle Pelt Lichen.
Form: A leaf lichen that is
loosely attached; lobes broad, 2 - 5 cm wide; has scattered
dark-coloured to black 'warts' on the upper surface; the lower
surface veinless or with broad, cottony, inconspicuous veins, that
darken abruptly inward from the lobe tips;
Colour: Dull grey-green when dry
and bright green when moist.
Fruiting Body: Large, reddish to
blackish brown, on upper surface of extended lobes.
Height: Grows close to the surface.
Habitat: Grows on moss, humus,
decaying logs, and occasionally rocks, typically in forested areas.
It is common and widespread in the boreal forest to the Arctic
across Northwestern Ontario.
Interest: The brown- to
black-coloured 'warts' on the upper surface contain tiny colonies of
bacteria that extract nitrogen from the atmosphere for use by the
lichen and the algal partner. The name Peltigera is from
the Latin pelta, which means 'a light shield'. The name
refers to the round shield-like shape. The species name, aphthosa,
is from the Greek aphthai, meaning 'an eruption or pustule'.
The name refers to the dark-coloured 'warts' on the upper surface of
this lichen.
Location: Fort
Hope Indian Reserve (Eabametoong First Nation).
Date: August 26, 2003.
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