12th September 2009 2009
Earlier in the summer, I spent a few hours looking at lichens in the company of a couple of experts. Since then, I have been attempting to identify lichens at home and whilst on holiday at Llandigige.
Working out the identity of even the commonest ones is challenging and I feel that I am at the same stage as the novice birdwatcher who is still trying to identify bluetits and song thrushes, or the botanist who is trying to separate dandelion from creeping buttercup. The guide that I am using is the one by Dobson. This is helpful in many ways, but I haven’t reached the stage of using microscopes and chemical tests.
There are plenty of lichens to be found at Llandigige. A fairly distinctive species which is common on the stone walls was identified as Diploicia canescens. I also identified the orange Xanthoria parietina but struggled with other orange ones. I failed to decide whether one very abundant orange species was a Xanthoria or a Caloplaca. Two other species found growing on boulders around the farm were identified as Flavoparmelia soredians and Rinodina confragosa.
Whilst strolling around the grounds of Ackworth School at lunchtimes in recent days, I have learnt to spot the common, and quite distinctive, Lecanora muralis, which grows on a number of walls around the site.