Category: Trip report

This was a popular meeting with 11 people looking at lichens and even more at bryophytes. We car-shared to a point where a few vehicles could park at the edge of the wood and Edward Mills, the owner, gave a brief introduction. He bought the wood in 2020 and is aiming to create a mosaic of different habitats. Management includes coppicing in some areas but there are large old hazel trees too which will be retained. Deer, both roe and red, are a problem currently, limiting natural regeneration.

As you might imagine for a low-lying site (c 30m above sea level at the high points), it’s very damp underfoot with recent rain also having wetted every surface. Some lichens were doing very well in these circumstances – the first thing seen after only a few metres were stunning sheets of Baeomyces rufus covered in a sward of tiny mushroom-like fruiting bodies on exposed rock by the track. Here too we started to examine the trunks and twigs of nearby willow, birch and alder, finding various common lichens – bitter-tasting Lepra amara, Evernia prunastri pretending to be a fruticose lichen, various Hypotrachyna spp and Platismatia glauca amongst others. Further on there were oak trees on drier ground where Micarea alabastrites and Pachyphiale carneola were spotted by Allan, with Normandina pulchella and Peltigera praetextata found by Chris.

This first part of the wood was fairly dark which might account for the limited range of lichens. Further on we began to see hazel trees which overall had a good range of crustose species, especially lirellate ones (with scribble-like fruiting bodies). The best of these were in the southern part of the wood where it was more open and well-lit. Here we found red-pink pruinose Coniocarpon cinnabarinum, Coniocarpon cuspidans with immersed purple lirellae, Arthonia didyma with tiny fleck-like apothecia and Opegrapha niveoatra, as well as Graphis scripta sensu stricto. Some of these were checked under the microscope later. Throughout, on mature oak, there was a lot of Diarthonis spadicea (was Arthonia) with “arthonioid” round apothecia with blurry edges. Another nice find was the glue fungus, Hymenochaete corrugata, which bonds dead branches and twigs together above ground, so avoiding competition from other fungi.

Lunch was on the bank of the tidal Rusland Pool watercourse where there were also a few species on the wooden rails of the bridge and on a gate. These included Fuscidea lightfootii, Micarea lignaria and Candelariella vitellina.

After this we cut back across the denser wood but found several canopy species where an oak had fallen allowing us to look at the topmost twigs. Here there was Usnea subfloridana, a genus which likes lots of light so lives in the canopy until a storm brings it down to our level. Nearby rock outcrops had several nice crustose species, including pink-orange sorediate Gyrographa gyrocarpa growing with purple-brown Enterographa zonata with pale soredia, forming mosaics.

The centre of the wood has some established rhododendron which looked as though it was in the process of being tackled. Holly was frequent in the wood, a tree lichenologists tend to dislike as it casts year-long dense shade on adjacent trunks, badly affecting lichens there. On the other hand old holly trees are lovely and support good lichens. Xanthoria parietina was scarce, seen only once, which is a good thing.

As usual we had a good time with lots of lichen chat and looking at nice things in a wood new to us.

Text: Caz Walker
Photos: Chris Cant, Caz Walker

We had a good turnout despite a dreich weather forecast – in the end it was chilly and gloomy but largely dry, with the lichens damp but not underwater. About 15 people, both bryologists and lichenologists, met at Legburthwaite at the north end of Thirlmere from where a short walk along the busy road took us to the southern nose of High Rigg. This is a low N-S ridge formed of andesite, an igneous rock which can sometimes contain alkaline minerals, adding some variety to the frequently acidic upland rock – although we didn’t see any species indicating this.

The southern monad NY3119 already contained 43 records so we didn’t write down everything we saw, whereas the next monad to the north NY3120 only showed 3 lichen records. Our aim was to reach that in order to expand on the lichen knowledge for that square. In the end we made a list of 35-40 lichens for the northern monad which isn’t bad given that there was a lot of lichen chatting to distract us from recording.

As usual it was slow going as every rock and tree had the potential for lengthy discussions. Now and then we got cold and needed a brisk walk on to the next feature. Heading up hill we came across lots of hopeful oak seedlings as well as mature trees which had a range of typical acid bark lichens, such as bushy Evernia prunastri and red-fruited Cladonia polydactyla. Further up there were scattered pine with small grey lobes of foliose Parmeliopsis hyperopta. Also on pine was Hypocenomyce scalaris another acid-bark species, made up of little downward pointing scales with a sorediate rim, going a delicious C+red.

A large isolated boulder had a good range of crustose species, such as Trapelia glebulosa,  Immersaria athroocarpa and Lepra corallina, as well as sheets of Lasallia pustulata forming a warted leafy mass. Here too were the charismatic fruticose Stereocaulon evolutum (KC+violet and Pd-) and S vesuvianum. Peter looked underneath and found orangey Gyrographa gyrocarpa where it would be drier, as well as Pertusaria amara on the top of the rock, confirmed by tasting (it’s very bitter). This is usually on bark.

As we got higher there were more rocky outcrops which began to show a nice range of upland species – Ophioparma ventosa with red apothecia, yellow granules of Candelariella coralliza where birds perch, lots of leafy grey Parmelia saxatilis and a range of terricolous Cladonia species. There was also the less common Stereocaulon vesuvianum var nodulosum which has blobs of soredia at the top of the podetia. At our furthest point Chris spotted several thalli of the terricolous placodioid lichen Baeomyces placophyllus. This looks similar to the commoner Baeomyces rufus in colour but forms distinct lobes around the edge of a rosette. On the surface are schizidia, convex propagules where the cortex has peeled up forming scales. A lengthy discussion arose about this…

As ever, the adjacent drystone wall produced interesting finds. Peter spotted an LF (lichenicolous fungus, ie a fungus that lives on or in a lichen) on Parmelia saxatilis which turned out to be Nesolechia oxyspora, new to Cumbria and the north of England. Nearby on the north-facing side of the wall was Psoronactis dilleniana, a mauve-grey pruinose crust with dark apothecia.

Liz spotted a bonus species earlier in the day – Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, a slime mould, on the upturned root plate of a fallen tree.

Other LFs seen were red-pink patches of Marchandiomyces corallinus on Parmelia and, earlier in the day, Zyzygomyces physciacearum on Physcia aipolia – or was it? It was later confirmed as the rarer Zyzygomyces aipoliae which has recently been separated from Z physciacearum. These used to be in the Heterocephalacria genus. Anyone coping with reading this paragraph deserves a prize….

Walking back didn’t take very long. After a final look at a quantity of Peltigera praetextata on the mossy wall at the road we headed back to the cars.

Thanks to Pete Martin for organising the trip which he was unable to attend.

Text: Caz Walker
Photos: Chris Cant, Peter Bisset, Caz Walker

Scales Wood sits on the steep north-east facing slopes opposite Buttermere village. It’s a marvellous place, the SSSI citation describes it as having “the best and most extensive example in the Lake District of a lichen community typical of upland, high rainfall oakwoods such as those found in the Scottish Highlands”. For some of us,  it was our third visit and it nearly didn’t happen.

Storm Ashley made us look carefully at the weather maps. The rain was forecast to stop between 10 and 11 o’clock. So we pushed back the start time. The strongest winds were later on, and maybe we’d be sheltered by the fells. Indeed, as we eight lichen botherers gathered at the foot of the Newlands Road it really wasn’t very windy at all. But it was bucketing down. Morale sank as we waded along the ankle-deep river oops, sorry, path towards the bridge.

But the rain soon stopped, and it was almost pleasant as we wandered along the bottom of the wood, discussing Peltigera membranacea (bullate, tomentose, downturned lobes and long separate rhizines), Hypogymnia physodes (soredia on splayed hollow lobe ends) and Parmelia saxatilis ( linear pseudocyphellae and isidia). A ninth member of the party joined us. There was a selection of Pertusaria species to compare: amara (bitter),  corallina (isidiate) and pertusa (pepperpot-style apothecial warts). It didn’t seem right to mention that the first two have now changed genus to Lepra…

We had lunch by a holly at the northwest end of the wood, and then began the climb up alongside a beck. To no-one’s surprise, we didn’t go very fast or get very far. There were Punctelia pseudocyphellae to look at (dot-like, rather than linear) and a good array of the upland rainforest specialities: Hypotrachyna laevigata with its smooth, clean-cut lobes; Sphaerophorus globosus the coral lichen, Mycoblastus sanguinarius with red patches under the apothecia. There were Micarea alabastrites and M. cinerea. A little Cetrelia olivetorum was found on a fallen oak with its longer pseudocyphellae and bare undersides near the lobe edges.

The star of the show, as ever in Scales Wood, was Hypotrachyna (until recently Parmelinopsis) horrescens. It’s a small, leafy thing, with isidia and cilia (hairs) on the surface. It looks like a diminutive version of Parmotrema crinitum, so I think of it as Desperate Dan’s little brother.  It’s not quite on every tree, but there’s a lot of it in Scales Wood. What’s odd is that this is the most northerly known population. It’s only been found in one other Lakeland wood, and the main areas of it in Britain are north Wales, the New Forest and the south west. I wonder if a concerted hunt across these western valleys would reveal any more?

We also saw the yellowish crust Lecanora alboflavida on birch, not recorded at this wood before, although it is nearby in Ennerdale. Also new to this site was Schismatomma umbrinum, a brown granular crust which likes sheltered rocks in old woodland.

I also wonder if Lobarina scrobiculata is still here in Scales Wood. It was last seen in 1961. So it’s hard to imagine it has survived. But it’s quite a big wood, not easy to move around, and after three visits I feel like we have barely scratched the surface. So maybe, just maybe… oh we’ll have to come back for a fourth visit!

Text: Pete Martin
Photos: Pete Martin, Chris Cant

Arriving early to avoid hold-ups from roadworks at Threlkeld we found the car park by Derwent Water almost empty.  It quickly filled with lichenologists and bryologists all having had the same idea. Car parking for non-NT members is now restricted to 4 hours but luckily sufficient membership cards were produced (thanks, Pete) for us all to stay all day. There was still an early morning chill to the air but the clear blue sky presaged another dry, warm day to come, in this brief but welcome period of high-pressure.

First find of the day was down by the lakeside where Caz had seen a small inconspicuous piece of Sticta limbata on willow. Crossing the road from the car park our party of eight lichenologists followed rather more slowly in the steps of the bryologists who were more focussed on reaching the beck and falls behind the Lodore Hotel. There was plenty of interest along the path which wound along the base of the steep hillside through mainly sessile oak, elm and ash SSSI woods, where we found plenty of luxuriant Peltigera spp. on tree trunks and mossy boulders, various Pertusaria spp, Coniocarpon cinnabarinum, C. cuspidans (previously Arthonia elegans, one of the species that has changed both generic and specific names – annotate your Dobson!), Mycoblastus sanguinarius or bloody heart lichen and Normandina pulchella aptly given the common name, elf-ears. A highlight for me was Pete’s description of the orange, dark-rimmed apothecia on Pachyphiale carneola as iron-bru jelly sweets and his tip for remembering the latin name as ‘elephant flesh’ (it worked for me!). Graphis spp were much in evidence, G. pulverulenta and G. personii as well as G. scripta s.str. on hazel.

A bit further on, we crossed into the second monad of the day and began another list. Perhaps directed by a shaft of sunlight on a tree trunk, we found Parmotrema crinitum, which Pete memorably calls Desperate Dan because of its black whiskers. A few yards further on was our lunch-spot, the sunny viewpoint at the bottom of the Lodore falls from where we espied the bryologists picnicking in their natural habitat of shade, amongst the spray-splashed rocks in the streambed below us. It would have been easy to be lulled into a post-prandial nap by the soothing sound of the cascading water and the warm sunshine but instead we set off again, this time upwards, scrambling up a steep path over slippery scree and tree roots which led up high above the beck. Here we discovered some more, interesting specimens such as Pannaria conoplea, a diminutive foliose species on a horizontal but still living larch and a filamentous species on vertical rock probably Cystocoleus ebeneus. Wood ants were out and about, if you rested your hand on a larch it was soon discovered and discouraged. A large nest at the base of one of the larches on the slope was alive with ant activity.

By mid-afternoon we felt we’d gone as far as we wanted and retraced our steps downhill, catching tantalising glimpses of the placid lake waters which looked invitingly cool in the hot afternoon sun. Down at the falls where it was shaded and several degrees cooler, jelly lichens Scytinium lichenoides and Leptogium cyanescens were living amongst the moss. We recorded Sticta sylvatica but looking carefully at the photos, at least some of it was the much rarer S. ciliata. Tiny but exquisite mosaic-forming Enterographa hutchinsiae was colonising flat pebbles. When we eventually returned to our cars, the car park had emptied and a few hardy souls were swimming in the lake but none of our party were tempted in!

Microscopic study of small samples taken home brought up more surprises, see the discussions on our Facebook page.  Toniopsis (Bacidia) inornata was found, also on a pebble, and the first record for England. A putative Bacidia had spores that were much too short and has been confirmed as Lecania chlorotiza which has ‘near threatened’ status, whilst what we thought might be Catinaria atropurpurea had spores that were much too long and could be Bacidia absistens.

Text: Liz and Peter Bisset
Photos: Peter Bisset, Chris Cant, Pete Martin, Paul Hanson, Caz Walker

We seem to be making a habit of exploring borderlands, this time again at the Cumbria-Yorkshire boundary in the uplands to the south east of Kirkby Stephen: Lamps Moss, south of Nine Standards Rigg. It’s an interesting spot with both acidic peat hag habitat and gritstone rock adjacent to limestone pavement and sinkholes. As a result we saw a good selection of lichens which prefer these different niches. The site is part of the Mallerstang-Swaledale SSSI.

At over 500m this is an exposed site so the trip was nearly cancelled due to ongoing stormy weather. However a window of dryness after a later than usual start time meant we avoided the rain.

First we looked at the peat hags north of the road, commenting about the lack of lichens in the sward – not even much Cladonia portentosa was to be had. Dwarf shrubs such as heather, bilberry, crowberry and cranberry were there, however, so past management might be the explanation. However, on low exposed peat banks there was a range of Cladonia species – red-fruited C bellidiflora and C diversa, brown-fruited C ramulosa and spiky C furcata. The basal squamules of Lichenomphalia hudsoniana and the gelatinous green thalline bobbles of L umbellifera (now L ericetorum) were here too. A fuzz of yellow-brown granules on horizontal peat seemed a candidate for Placynthiella dasaea and a specimen was taken to torture once it had dried out – applying chemicals to sodden lichens doesn’t work. It turned out to be C+red with green algae of the right size, hopefully confirming it as P dasaea.

There have been attempts to restore some of the areas of bare peat by blocking channels and spreading cut heather on unvegetated ground – this may help mosses but will kill any lichens growing here and indeed very little was seen at these spots.

A long-discarded crisp bag deep in the Sphagnum turned out to be a sexton beetle graveyard where maybe 30 of them had been attracted to their deaths by the strong smell of earlier rotting beetles.

We went back to the carpark for lunch and to meet further participants. This allowed for the examination of several concrete posts which had a good covering of crustose and a few foliose lichens, including unusually fertile Physcia caesia.

A short walk further west took us into the next monad where we looked at terricolous and saxicolous lichens on limestone. There was green Peltigera leucophlebia dotted with brown cephalodia, P polydactylon with brown veins on the underside that come to the lobe edge and P canina showing bushy, confluent rhizines beneath. The intriguing Diploschistes muscorum was consuming a Cladonia victim nearby by overgrowing it and pinching its algae. The star find on limestone was Sagiolechia protuberans, a rare species with 4 previous records in Cumbria. This had black star-shaped apothecia on a slightly orange thallus. Nearby there were the immersed pink apothecia of Hymenelia prevostii (green alga so the thallus scratches green) and further on Hymenelia epulotica (Trentepohlia as photobiont so scratches yellow/orange). Other good finds included Solorina saccata amongst moss in a sheltered sinkhole, Bryobilimbia hypnorum and Arthonia calcarea, as well as the usual suspects Gyalecta jenensis (now Secoliga jenensis), Protoblastenia rupestris and P incrustans plus assorted jelly lichens. Pete had a specimen which may turn out to be a Staurothele species – tbc.

Before driving off, Judith found a beautiful Lecanora intricata with wrinkled areoles and flexuose apothecial margins on the sandstone capstone of the YDNP sign by the road.

Text: Caz Walker
Photos: Chris Cant, Pete Martin, Judith Allinson

A slow climb to Alcock Tarn.

Mid July and I feared that the central Lakes would be very busy;  have no parking; experience torrential downpours and be full of biting insects. But none of these were true for our Alcock Tarn trip!

In a break with tradition, we didn’t get distracted on our journey from meeting point to target area. Well, that’s not quite true. As we ascended out of Bracken Fell woods we succumbed to the lure of an outcrop. It was the ideal place to outline lichen basics to the newcomers: there was Lepra corallina, Rhizocarpon geographicum, Stereocaulon vesuvianum and Ophioparma ventosa. Some Cladonias too. It was a good half hour before we moved on up the zigzags. There was a boulder with Ephebe lanata on it. And an emerging dragonfly to examine: a female Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) I think.

But we quickly found another outcrop to distract us, and an oak tree with Normandina pulchella. By the time we’d examined a hawthorn with a wide variety of foliose species and particularly nice “dancing” Pseudevernia furfuracea it was time for lunch. On the crag nearby was the bright yellow Arthrorhaphis citrinella.

After a break, our slow ascent continued. An impressive metal pipe boasted a number of metalliferous lichens: Placopsis lambii, Rhizocarpon oederi, Scoliciosporum umbrinum, Stereocaulon pileatum (“fuzzy headed Fisher Price” people as Rebecca Yahr once described them) and Ionaspis lacustris.

To our surprise, we caught up with the bryophyte party ( but only briefly). Ash limbs had impressive Platismatia glauca (frilly lettuce) and Parmelina pastillifera. The jelly lichens on a boulder in the beck- Collema glebulentum and Scytinium pulvinatum– maybe suggested a basic influence.

On the move again we found Lichenomphalia ericetorum on an old stump base- and L. hudsoniana too. Bird perches had piles of bones: and Candelariella vitellina; flat outcrops had Sphaerophorous fragilis, the first Acarospora fuscata of the day and pruinose blisters of Lasallia pustulata.

A final push brought us to the tarn. There were Mallards, Water Horsetail and Lesser Spearwort, together with impressive views. But somehow, having reached the goal, we didn’t have any desire to push on. Would there be more at Butter Crags? We’ll have to leave that for another day. Needless to say, it didn’t take very long to descend at all. But we had found nearly 100 species on our slow climb…

Text: Pete Martin
Photos: Pete Martin, Chris Cant, Paul Hanson