Thomas Bancroft Photography

Show Navigation
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Writing
Bryophytes All Galleries
Download

Bryophytes

85 images Created 2 Jan 2025

Mosses, lichens, and liverworts found at Deception Pass State Park in Skagit County, Washington.
View: 100 | All
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Loading ()...

  • The two-inch diameter Douglas Fir branch lay under the grove, falling in the last windstorm. I propped it against a trunk so I could examine the lichen community. Thick clumps of rag lichen covered the wood, and small sprigs of bearded lichen came through in several spots.
    Rag & Beard Lichens-Deception Pa...jpg
  • Shield lichen wraps tight to one side of a Douglas fir branch. The way the lichen clings to the bark always gives me that feeling of a warm blanket around one’s shoulders.
    Shield Lichen - Parmelia sp.-Decepti...jpg
  • The post and rail fence blocked the way to the beach by Rosaria Head in Deception Pass State Park. I leaned down to examine the lichen clinging to the horizontal rail. Yellow Sunburst Lichen gave a cheer on this cold January day.
    Xanthoria parietina - Sunburst Liche...jpg
  • The sunburst lichen (Xanthoria sp.) is foliose and has leafy lobes. This one appeared healthy and vibrant even though the outside temperature had just passed 40 degrees.
    Xanthoria parietina - Sunburst Liche...jpg
  • The cub-like structures on this sunburst lichen are its reproductive organs.
    Xanthoria parietina - Sunburst Liche...jpg
  • Shield lichens surround a small clump of grass-like moss. The textures and colors against the rock provide an artistic feel.
    Shield Lichen with a Dicranum specie...jpg
  • The shield lichens clung tightly to the rocks at Rosario Head. They seemed almost to surround a small clump of Dicranum moss, probably Broom Moss. Twenty feet up the cliff from Puget Sound, the rock smelled of salt in the breeze. The rock may be ribbon chert or argillite; not enough was exposed to tell.
    Shield Lichen with a Dicranum specie...jpg
  • The yellows, browns, and creams of this Nephroma laevigatum made me think of freshly made pancakes with tasty sugar maple syrup. The lichen grew along a vertical section of Rosario’s head, pointing across Puget Sound.
    Pelt Lichen - Peltigera sp.-Deceptio...jpg
  • The shield lichen seemed to flow down this tree trunk as it had oozed from someplace toward the upper left. The bumps and rolls were like the buckling of basalt lava as it flowed from a fissure.
    Shield Lichen - Parmelia sp.-Decepti...jpg
  • The trail along the east side of Rosario’s Head had a thick canopy of Douglas firs, and a dense carpet of Electrified Cat's-tail Moss grew beside it. When I got down on my knees, the moss looked like a forest of trees, and I used my loupe to search for possible inhabitants.
    Golden Short-capsuled Moss - Brachyt...jpg
  • My nose was down in the Electrified Cat's-tail Moss, picking up the damp fragrance of spring, even though this was January 1st. I was prone, stretched along the trail, and slightly twisted to get close. On dreary, cloudy, cold days like this, a whiff of moss raises the spirit and readies me for the coming week.
    Golden Short-capsuled Moss - Brachyt...jpg
  • The grass-like moss seemed to wrap entirely around this snag. The green and soft texture made it look like a pillow, but its location would prevent anything except maybe a chipmunk from using it as one.
    Dicranum sp. - Grass Moss-Deception ...jpg
  • They call this Wavy-leaf Cotton; one can see where that thought comes from. The leaves had hundreds of little side pieces with a wave under a loupe. This matt grew on the side of an old stump, primarily rotten. The decaying wood stores moisture and nutrients, making it an ideal habitat for a plant like this.
    Wavy-leaved Cotton Moss - Buckiella ...jpg
  • It looked like someone had squirted a half dozen shots of Hersey Chocolate on the rock’s side. Brown oozed in waves down the side, curling at the bottom, and then orange balls grew from the rounded over ends. This plant was an outstanding example of a pelt lichen, one of the best I’d seen.
    Pelt Lichen - Peltigera sp.-Deceptio...jpg
  • The trunks rose straight and tall. Flat side branches came off in alternate form, wrapping around the trunk. The grove looked thick and impressive, like a jungle. It’s probably old growth, too. But the entire grove covered only a few square inches; it was Juniper Haircap Moss, and I knelt looking right into the forest.
    Alpine Haircap Moss - Polytrichastru...jpg
  • I looked right down on the canopy of these Juniper Haircap Mosses. This species is the larger member of Polytrichastrum that we have in western Washington. They form a jungle, and I wonder what fauna might be mingling with all those trunks and leaves.
    Alpine Haircap Moss - Polytrichastru...jpg
  • Reindeer Lichen, I jerked my head one way and the other to see if one of these long-legged ungulates was nearby. No, I was along the nature trail at Deception Pass State Park in western Washington. The closest caribou was a long way off. This moss’s tangle of stems, branches, and twists make it look like an impenetrable jungle. Several mattress-sized clumps covered parts of the large rock and were surrounded by green mosses. It was a unique garden inside this lowland coniferous forest.
    Reindeer Lichen - Cladonia species-D...jpg
  • A big flat leaf of a Pelt Lichen came out of a clump of green moss and caribou lichen. It looked like a paddle with three lobes. It is a species of Peltigera, and I’d love to know which one. Washington has many in that genus and several with “freckle” in their name. Freckles covered the lobe of this one. It has so many gall-like, black cephalodia on the thallus.
    Pelt Lichen - Peltigera sp.-Deceptio...jpg
  • A large, multiple-lobed Pelt Lichen leaves rose from the middle of a moss clump. The top of each lobe had orange football-shaped apothecia on them. A couple of the apothecia were cracked open like a chopped watermelon. Others must be close to ripe and ready to release their spores. These lichens remind me of the movie “The Blob,” about a carnivorous amoeboidal alien that invades Earth. I’ve often wondered if these Pelt Lichens will reach out and grab one of us as we pass.
    Pelt Lichen - Peltigera sp.-Deceptio...jpg
  • The shag rug, or at least it reminded me of one, stretched back under the trees. A thick tangle of Stair Step Moss grew. The stems add a new leaf each year, increasing in length and adding to their cottony look. Maybe a better analogy would be a feathery textured quilt for the carpet, which is fluffy and soft.
    Stair Step Moss-Deception Pass Stat...jpg
  • The fallen log lay at waist height. I leaned in close to stare into the luxuriant grow on the bark. A line of British Soldiers with a few bearded lichens went down the middle and was bordered on each side by a forest of grass-like moss. A miniature train should have been running through the thicket.
    Cladonia and Usnea surrounded by mos...jpg
  • The red top to the Cladonia stem gives this lichen its common name, British soldiers. Those red fruiting bodies may open on several other stems in the coming week. I’ll return with a field trip in six days and try to find this again.
    British Solders - Cladonia sp.-Decep...jpg
  • This lichen’s stiff, erect tubes provide the common name, tube lichen. The genus Hypogymnia has many species. This one has a silvery-gray top and black underside. This clump is large by lichen standards. Surrounding it appears to be some Usnea and Platismatia, genera with many species in our area.
    Tube Lichen - Hypogymnia species-Dec...jpg
  • The whitish-green flecks and a few stems rising looked like a seedling patch, with most just germinating. This garden, though, was a patch of Cladonia, British Soldiers. One stem may be large enough to grow the red cap, but the clump hasn’t reached the reproductive stage. The branch coming off the down log looked like it had been dead for years. The bark is gone, and the Cladonia garden might be relatively young.
    British Solders - Cladonia sp.-Decep...jpg
  • Lichen gardens are remarkable. Miniature showcases diversity. This dead branch had Usnea, Platismatia, Hypogymnia, and Cladonia species.
    Lichen Community-Deception Pass Sta...jpg
  • Usnea made a rough hairdo on this dead branch, and Hypogymnia hung down like an unkempt beard. The designs these lichens make as they grow always make me wonder. The commensal relationship of the fungus and algae or blue-green algae gives it a sustainable life. Might we learn something from these organisms and work together better?
    Lichen Community-Deception Pass Sta...jpg
  • The black undersides of these Hypogymnia are just visible as small lines along the green-white tops. It makes a double design that is also three-dimensional. I lack any artistic abilities, and seeing these natural designs always brings a sense of envy. To draw is a gift.
    Lichen Community-Deception Pass Sta...jpg
  • What makes one set of lines, shapes, and tubes artistic and another not? I stood for the longest time staring at this collection of Hypogymia, wondering what it was that had attracted me. The left side is a little bigger than the right and has that one long stem sticking far down. Was it this pattern with the shadows behind it? Or did that drool of Usnea curling together give something magical?
    Lichen Community-Deception Pass Sta...jpg
  • The tangle looked thick like these two lichens competed for the same space. Hypogmnia held close to the wood while Usnea bowed like long hair curls. Lichens lack internal organs like nerves or blood vessels. Each is composed of what amounts to a colony of individuals. A fungus forms the structure, and numerous algae cells photosynthesis sugars to feed the pair. The strands of fungus form a network that communicates across the plant. Some fungi in soils connect trees, creating a network for communication between trees. What might be happening within these two lichens? I put my ear right against the clump, but even with my hearing aids turned up, I could not catch any conversations.
    Lichen Community-Deception Pass Sta...jpg
  • The green was at eye level and wrapped around a knot on the conifer. It was big, grassy in texture, and grew entirely around the trunk. The individual stems stuck out about an inch and seemed to curl slightly to the left, at least on this side. I ran my fingers a half inch above the stems, imagining how soft and tender they might be. This Broom moss seemed to speak to me, telling me to relax and look forward to the coming year. It was January 1st and my nerves seemed wound tight.
    Curly Heron's-Bill Moss-Decepti...jpg
  • The sporophytes rose an inch above the carpet of moss. These are the female gametophytes, and the capsule contains spores. The spores will be released; because they are light, any wind will carry them to a new place. I flicked one with my fingernail, still hard. Perhaps they will mature soon, more to follow.
    Curly Heron's-Bill Moss-Decepti...jpg
  • It seemed that the braids hung down over the shoulder, thick, thousands of them. This matt was impressive, light green. A dense clump of Coiled-leaf Moss grew on this branch. Some seemed to have a yellowish tinge as if their hair had been accented. How old might a clump like this be? I hadn’t seen any evidence that Deception Pass State Park had been logged. Maybe this was an old-growth moss, hundreds of years old, and what had all passed this living thing. I stepped backward to give it some respect.
    Coiled-leaf Moss - Hypnum circinale-...jpg
  • I shifted my camera, moving it closer to the moss. Now, the details of those braids began to show. They appeared intricate, finely divided leaves from the central stem, almost like a rope. This moss must divide vegetatively near the base, gradually broadening the clump and spreading along the bark. These plants have no vascular systems, but do they communicate somehow? I leaned in close; the smell was a wet, a sweet taste, maybe that is the vocabulary for this species. Stepping back, I tipped my head to say thanks for its gift.
    Coiled-leaf Moss - Hypnum circinale-...jpg
  • The fibers hung down, draping like long strands of hair. Except a few were flat and broad, like a flattened pencil. Little side branches came off the long outer strands, running across openings and connecting to other vertical ones. Behind that net were long, thin threads. My eyes were inches from a fishnet lichen, Ramalina menziesii. I’d come to Rosario Head hoping to find this species, one not often discovered in the Pacific Northwest.
    Fishnet Lichen - Ramalina menziesii-...jpg
  • The treads were tangled, twisted among themselves as if someone’s long hair had become knotted while sleeping. The tangle reminded me of my daughter in elementary school, her hair halfway down her back, and her mother pulling and working the brush to untangle it each morning. The pain from each pull must have been intense, but she wanted long hair, and it was beautiful. The twisted fibers in front of me weren’t hair but Fishnet Lichen, a species of Ramalina. It hung almost to its top on most of the branches of this Douglas Fir.
    Fishnet Lichen - Ramalina menziesii-...jpg
  • The brown lobes of this foliose lichen rose from the log and looked almost like they could wave. In the center of a larger clump of green rag lichens, a species of Tuckermanopsis lichen was present, with a few Usnea strands flicking up. I’d never seen this genus before and leaned in close. The apothecia and pycnidia are only found on the outer edge of the leaf lobes. If only I knew what they looked like.
    Iceland Lichen & Rag Lichen-Dece...jpg
  • On this clump of Tuckermanopsis, I can see some apothecia on the lower lobes, which are the sexual reproductive parts. Now, can I find any pycnidia? They would be small round balls on the outer edge of the lobes. Maybe those tiny bumps are them.
    Iceland Lichen & Shield Lichen &...jpg
  • Chuckling, I pulled the camera back a little to give more of a habitat shot. A matter of inches gives a whole different perspective on lichens. The design that these multiple species make is outstanding. A Tuckermanopsis species in the center gave a brown-yellow eye focus point, surrounded by tight to-the-branch lobes of shield lichen, and then strands of beard lichen above and below framed the entire scene. Dachner Keltner (Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life) considers art and nature two of the eight wonders of life. Here they were!
    Iceland Lichen & Shield Lichen &...jpg
  • The mat of lichens and mosses growing over this large bolder obscured even a dime-sized piece of the rock. For the last five minutes, I’d been studying this clump, trying to see the details and understand why it had grabbed my full attention. Light whitish-green reindeer lichen stuck out among the dark green moss. Some of the moss was a haircap species, but I could tell the species at this distance. Other mosses were there, too, but the lichen had my attention.
    Reindeer Lichen filed-Forest Interpr...jpg
  • The Pacific Northwest lowlands have hundreds of moss species. Several friends tell me that if I learn a few dozen species, I’ll know about 80% of what I find. But here in front of me is one of those others. We initially thought it might be Racometrium elongatum, but it doesn’t have tiny white fibers, like gray hairs, coming from the top. Something new, another trip with my friends, will be needed.
    Might be something other than Racome...jpg
  • The complex looked like a city of skyscrapers along the ridge, with scattered houses and maybe farms along the lower slopes. The towers had a central pole and then a flat, spread-out top. Might this be the home of the Lilliputians? Only a few inches in diameter, the rotting log was covered with a light yellow-green species of Cladonia, a genus of lichens with hundreds of species in the Pacific Northwest.
    Cladonia sp.-Forest Interpretive Tra...jpg
  • Cladonia species are often small and look like dust flecks on a log or trunk. But when they are ready to reproduce, they will send up stalks. This species has an umbrella-like stalk, except the umbrella is upside down, making a concave pan. Might it be an adaptation to use raindrops to fling spores out from this clump to new possible homes?
    Cladonia sp.-Forest Interpretive Tra...jpg
  • Several clumps of fungus were scattered in the dense moss patch beside the trail. The green moss, probably a Rhytidiadelphus species, provided a soft backdrop to the brownish-tan coral fungus. The fungus had long, thin, finger-like projections sticking straight up, and some appeared knocked over. These are the fruiting bodies of an underground fungus that plays a vital role in the ecosystem. The mycelium of underground fungi often connects to tree roots, helping the tree take up nutrients and water, and they can also form communication networks between individual trees. I tipped my hat to this one and left it to do its thing.
    Coral Fungus - Clavulina s-Deception...jpg
  • One of those “grass-like” mosses grew along this down log. My mind kept saying, “I hate them, I hate them,” but I leaned in close to study the details of its leaves. This genus, Dicranum, has soft leaves, much like a cat’s fur. I must resist not running my fingers across it; it appears inviting. Its little leaf looks curled, so it isn’t a broken-leaf moss with straight leaves. The broom and Curly Heron’s-bill mosses are the two other common species in this genus in the lowlands of the Pacific Northwest. My friends say to look at the color and how the leaves curl, but I still haven’t figured out the separation confidently.
    Dicranum sp.-Deception Pass State Pa...jpg
  • One of the Dicranum species of grass-mosses, but which one? These little things have me beat. The curl and color of the leaves are supposed to allow me to separate the common species at Deception Pass State Park, but I still can’t do it. I bow my head to this clump and thank it for the challenge.
    Dicranum sp.-Deception Pass State Pa...jpg
  • The cluster seemed random and chaotic, but it had an interesting design. Rag lichen dominated the left and top, with many small Cladonia in the middle. Then, a few strands of beard lichen popped through the mat. Tufts of green moss added a different color to the lichens. What determines how these clumps grow, I wondered. Is it just random whose spores arrive first, or do they create a micro-climate enhanced by having several species? So much remains unknown to me.
    Cladonia sp. & Rag Lichen & ...jpg
  • My friend says, “Small Flat Moss—wow, I’ve never seen this species.” I turn around to find him kneeling fifty feet back on the trail. His head is only inches above the dirt as he studies a dark green moss clinging to the side of a boulder. I hurry back; the clump is maybe ten inches by six inches, a little under an overhang of the rock. “Look at how the leaves are tiny and wavy with fine points. It is in the appendix of our book,” he says. “I’ll photograph it so we can check with others.” My knees creak as I stoop to capture my photograph.
    Small Flat Moss - Pseudotaxiphyllum ...jpg
  • When my friend stepped back from the moss clump, I repositioned myself to see if I could capture a larger view of this species. It might be a new species for us, Small Flat Moss-Pseudotaxiphyllum elegans, and we need good photographs to double-check. The mat hangs on the vertical side of the boulder and faces north, where the sun would be less likely to dry it out.
    Small Flat Moss - Pseudotaxiphyllum ...jpg
  • The slimy orange blob emerged from the dead log like something oozing to take over the world. It looked like a butter knife could spread it across toast. My body shivered at the thought, although my friends said some species are edible. This orange jelly of fungus is saprotrophic. The fungus digests dead wood outside its cells and pulls in the nutrients.
    Dacrymyces - Witch's Butter-Dec...jpg
  • Curly Heron's-bill Moss - Dicra...jpg
  • Wavy-leaved Cotton Moss - Buckiella ...jpg
  • Wavy-leaved Cotton Moss - Buckiella ...jpg
  • Broken-leaf Moss - Dicranum tauricum...jpg
  • Broken-leaf Moss - Dicranum tauricum...jpg
  • Pelt Lichen species - Peltigera sp.-...jpg
  • Pelt Lichen species - Peltigera sp.-...jpg
  • -Forest Intrerpretive Trail-Deceptio...jpg
  • Oregon Beaked & Lanky mosses wit...jpg
  • Tube Lichen & others - Hypogymni...jpg
  • Tube Lichen & others - Hypogymni...jpg
  • Cladonia species-Forest Intrerpretiv...jpg
  • Cladonia species-Forest Intrerpretiv...jpg
  • Beard Lichen - Usnea sp-Forest Intre...jpg
  • Beard Lichen - Usnea sp-Forest Intre...jpg
  • Beard Lichen - Usnea sp-Forest Intre...jpg
  • Moss sp-Forest Intrerpretive Trail-D...jpg
  • Beard Lichen - Usnea sp-Forest Intre...jpg
  • Beard Lichen - Usnea sp-Forest Intre...jpg
  • Rain dripped from the Douglas fir branches in large individual droplets. Misty clouds had been drifting in and out all morning. The mosses and lichens were having a day, enjoying all the moisture. I kept seeing these oversized droplets come down like miniature buckets of water, so I looked for one still clinging to a twig. This one caught my fancy, and the lichens behind it were far enough back to create a beautiful background.
    Water droplet-Forest Intrerpretive T...jpg
  • Stair Step & Electrified Cat...jpg
  • Stair Step Moss - Hylocmium splenden...jpg
  • Stair Step & Electrified Cat...jpg
  • Stair Step & Electrified Cat...jpg
  • Small Flat Moss -- Psudotaxiphyllum ...jpg
  • Small Flat Moss -- Psudotaxiphyllum ...jpg
  • Small Flat Moss -- Psudotaxiphyllum ...jpg
  • Stair Step & Electrified Cat...jpg
  • Broken-leaf Moss - Dicranum tauricum...jpg
  • Broken-leaf Moss - Dicranum tauricum...jpg
  • Broken-leaf Moss - Dicranum tauricum...jpg
  • So much detail hung right in front of my nose. Thallus strands of Ramalina menziesii twisted and turned like an open curtain. The background faded into a gray, keeping the eye on the curtain. Some strands formed the fine lace network that gives this lichen one of its common names, Fishnet. Others were wide like a yellow-green ribbon.
    Fishnet Lichen - Ramalina menziezii-...jpg
  • Two long strands hung from a branch like this tree was wearing a necktie. I laughed because the back part was longer than the wider front part. I often tied my neckties multiple times to get the lengths right. The wider portion had some twists and turns as if it had seen many meetings. The thallus on this Ramalina menziesii was a perfect example of the mutualistic relationship between fungi and algae.
    Fishnet Lichen - Ramalina menziezii-...jpg
  • A long strand of Ramalina menziesii hung in the open air, swaying back and forth in the light breeze. A small constriction part way down made me wonder how it kept from breaking at that point. The fungal cells at that twist must be strong, for we had high winds and rain just a few days ago. How fast do these fishnet lichens grow? Was this a decade of growth or even longer? So much to marvel about.
    Fishnet Lichen - Ramalina menziezii-...jpg
  • The Douglas Fir was covered in Ramalina menziesii. Fishnet lichen seemed to hang from every branch in long, wavy strands. Some must have been a meter long, a few even longer. They swayed in the gentle breeze at Rosario Head in Deception Pass State Park.
    Ramalina menziesii on Douglas Fir-Ro...jpg
  • The lace was impressive, with hundreds, maybe thousands, of strands crisscrossed at eye level. Lichens are notorious for being slow-growing, but this Ramalina menziesii was a superb specimen, and I wondered about its age. These are complex colonies. A fungus provides the structure, and a green alga lives between the fungus fibers, providing the pair with sugars manufactured from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water. It looks like one organism, but this might have millions of cells, each an individual life form.
    Fishnet Lichen - Ramalina menziezii-...jpg
View: 100 | All