Warm days, cold nights

 I have really been enjoying the recent sunny weather with clear blue skies, followed by a frost at night.  This year the plants seem quite slow to get going though the yellow ones are the first to appear.  celandines, as in the last post, and today while walking in Kingussie by the Gynack, I saw my first Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara).

Coltsfoot

The scientific name comes from the Latin, "tussis", which means a cough and it is still used to treat coughs and respitatory problems.  Just because something grows wild does not make it a safe natural remedy.  There is an interesting website about the uses of plants at Plants for a Future.

The other yellow flower appearing is the dandelion.  I saw a strange example in Kingussie. Two (or three) flowers have fused together to produce this monster flower and wide stem.  This happens occasionally in many flowers and is called fasciation:

 Dandelions are very common everywhere and you might think that they weren't that interesting for botanists.  You would be wrong! There are hundreds of microspecies of dandelion which have their own scientific names and are subtly different from each other.  This has happened because most dandelions now do not need to be fertilised by another dandelion to produce seed, though maybe they did a very long time ago.  This means that every seed that a particular dandelion produces will be genetically identical to its parent and so any differences are perpetuated. You might have noticed that pulling the head off a dandelion does not stop the flower producing seed (clocking).Bees and other insects visit the flower for pollen and nectar though.

Outside Kingussie High School, I noticed some bright orange patches on a concrete fence post. I was interested in the two near the bottom of the photo.

`These were lichens so I took a few photos.  I use a clip on macro lens on my phone to get a closer photo. The yellow one at the top is Xanthoria parietina and is a very common leafy lichen on trees and walls. I was more interested in the bright orange ones near the bottom.

This is a crustose lichen and probably a Caloplaca, perhaps Caloplaca saxicola.  The round circular shapes in the middle produce spores, and the finger-like structures at the edge are the lichen growing outwards. It is stuck fast to the cement and can't be pulled off without chipping at it with a chisel. Some lichens prefer to grow on acidic rocks like granite.  Most of the local rocks and boulders here are acidic.  Other lichens like a more alkaline  surface like cement and concrete.  This Caloplaca likes to grow on basic (non-acidic) stone so I can only find it on cement and mortared walls.  If we lived in an area with limestone or chalk it would grow on local rocks.

Here is are more similar lichens growing on a breezeblock wall in Newtonmore:

Caloplaca saxicola

Caloplaca decipiens

More Signs of Spring

Today I saw my first Celandines in flower. 

Lesser Celandine

Their scientific name is Ranunculus ficaria.  The buttercup also belongs to the Ranunculus family and you can see the similarity in the shiny yellow petals. Remember holding a buttercup under a friend's chin to see if they liked butter?  Which they would if the sun was shining and the yellow reflected off the petals.

The Gorse, Ulex europaeus, is another early bloomer, but the petals are a more lemony colour and are protected by fearsome spikes. You certainly would not want to hold that near your chin!

Gorse

I was walking by the River Calder when I saw some shiny green beetles on a large rock.   They were quite small, maybe 5mm,  and they don't look like much until you get a close up.  Then the colours were stunning in the sun.

They obligingly stayed put while I photographed them with the macro lens attachment on my phone, and they are fantastic - the Newtonmore scarab!

Although it was a beautifully sunny day, there were some shady areas that were just as pleasant, especially with the sound of water running over the rocks of this small burn that crosses the track.

If you have been following my posts during the winter, you will be wondering why there is no mention of lichens yet.  Continuing with the bright yellow theme, here is the brightest yellow lichen around,  Chrysothrix candelaris. Chrysothrix means "Golden Hair. 

 Usually the yellow lichens have a chemical sunscreen called parietin that gives them their colour, but this lichen grows on the shady side of the tree and  the colour is thought to be from chemicals that protect it from being eaten. Parietin has been investigated as a potential anti-cancer drug.  You can read more about it here.

Upper storey plants

 There is not much of interest in the flowering plants yet apart from the spring bulbs, so I am still keeping myself occupied looking for lichens. On two occasions I have found plants setting up home in holes in the trees, several feet above the ground. Whether they will survive, I am not sure...

Today I found some Wood Sorrel half way up a birch tree on the side of Creag Dhubh.

Wood Sorrel

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) normally grows on the ground under trees. Its leaves have a lemony taste and are three lobed, a bit like clover.  They are closed up in this photo. It has white flowers in the spring.

Another tree dweller I found was by Allt Laraidh.  This time it is a violet.

It is probably a common Dog Violet (Viola riviniana)

Although the weather has become a bit cooler today, I am hopeful that we will see some spring flowers soon.

Spring?

The weather has at last become more springlike - the lying snow has melted in the village though there is still snow on the hills. Snowdrops and crocuses have started to flower and the daffodils are putting up green shoots and some buds.

There are no "wild" snowdrops or daffodils in Newtonmore.  All the ones you see in waste ground are the result of people dumping their garden rubbish.  It is rather ironic that I had someone complaining today that they could not get snowdrops to grow in their garden, when they seem to grow against all odds in "throw out" material! Once snowdrops get going, they easily multiply by developing more bulbs or by seeding nearby.

All the snowdrops I have seen out and about are "common or garden" ones that go by the name of Galanthus nivalis but there are other fancier species.  If you think you have something a bit different in your garden, there is a simple online ID guide by Mick Crawley to help you decide what it is here. Snowdrop lovers (Galanthophiles) pay a lot of attention to the green markings on the inner petals which can take different patterns.  The common snowdrop has an upside down green V shape.  Here is one from my garden: 

When taking this photo, I was surprised by the strong scent of honey that came from the flower.  I had never noticed it before. If you have snowdrops in your garden, pick one and take a sniff!

Beards and Flying Saucers

 One of my first posts on lichens was about Usnea, Beard lichens.  I am gradually getting better at seeing the difference between the different species and saw two examples on the Wildcat Trail at Allt Laraidh (Aultlarie), at the North end of the Newtonmore.  

Last week you could walk up to the falls, which were full of water from the recent rain and snowmelt:

This is a lovely walk but at the moment (late February 2021) the path has washed away so only the lower part is accessible.

Lower down the Allt Laraidh, was a fallen tree.

A fallen willow

This is a lichen hunter's dream as all the lichens that grow high up are now within easy reach.  And there were plenty of lichens to look at.

My favourite was this one - with the flying saucers:

Usnea subfloridana with circular fruits

The fruiting bodies are circles with "eyelashes" growing out of them, and I have never seen them before.

The other lichen that was new to me was long and dangly:

The long strands look a bit like fish bones:

I think this one is Usnea dasopoga.

If you are not interested in naming lichens, there is still plenty to admire  - like this next box, also at Allt Laraidh, which is growing its own camouflage!

Pixie Cups

There is one group of lichens that is easy to spot. They are like miniature forests. The "trees" can take different shapes, the most obvious being a tiny goblet or "pixie cup."

Beneath the "trees" is a layer of tiny leaves (called squamules) like the grass in a forest.

This group all go by the name Cladonia and they come in many forms. As well as the cup shape, they can be thick and stumpy:

or pointy:

or tubular (these remind me of some sort of sea creature):

or have "fingers"

The one with "fingers" is Cladonia polydactyla  (polydactyla = many fingers) but I needed an expert to confirm that identification as the group called Cladonia are not easy to ID with certainty.

Some of them have blobs (called apothecia) on the ends, red in these pictures, which produce spores to spread the lichen.  The green powdery appearance on the "trunk" (fairy dust!) is another way it spreads itself.

Cladonia grow on bark, moss, and rotting wood so you can see some in Newtonmore without going far. Check out the fence on the path between the Main Street and Craig Dhu Road, opposite Curley's lane.

Happy Hunting!

Branching out

 As lockdown continues,  and the local walks become increasingly familiar, I have enjoyed keeping a lookout for new (to me) lichens.  As there about 250 recorded around the Newtonmore area and I have only come to grips with about 30, there are plenty more to look out for.  I am enjoying the posts on the Scottish Lichens Facebook group which is a great way to get a feel for what a lichen might be, which is the first hurdle. In February, we are having a Twig Challenge, so I went in search of an interesting twig.  I found one on the hawthorn on the top Golf Course (the Loch Imrich end).  There aren't many hawthorns locally apart from those planted in hedges.

Hawthorn berries 

Here is a small length of twig that I thought was interesting:

Hawthorn twig festooned with lichens

There are at least 9 lichens on this short length of twig (2 in the purple ring):

There are three different types of lichen - the dangly ones (circled in green and red) are easiest to see.  The more delicate one, circled in green is an Usnea species.  There are different ones but they all look pretty similar and are called beard lichens. There are plenty growing around Newtonmore on Birch  trees or even fenceposts.

Usnea spp. and Ramalina fraxinea

The broader one, circled in red, is Ramalina fraxinia, or the Leafy Ash lichen, though it grows on other trees apart from Ash. If you walk down Newtonmore Main Street it grows on a few ornamental trees in people's gardens, and it likes Sycamores rather than Birch or Pine.

The next type of lichen is formed of little leaves that are attached to the bark, like the ones circled in blue and white at the right hand end.

Parmelia sulcata

Lichens reveal more and more when you look at them closely, so some form of magnification really helps you enter their tiny world. I have a hand lens (x10) and a clip on macro lens for my phone which is how the closeup photos are taken. The blue-grey leafy lichen is Powdered Crottle (Parmelia sulcata). You can see a powdery surface breaking out from the lobes (leaves).  This is a mini package of the lichen which can spread it to other areas.

Another leafy lichen is the yellow one, circled in  - yellow.

Xanthoria parietina

This one is really common and stands out well.  It has one scientific name (Xanthoria parietina) but plenty of other names as everyone seems to make up their own name: Yellow Crotal, Yellow Wall lichen and even the rather fanciful Maritime Starburst Lichen. It can look greenish when wet or out of the sun.  The yellow colour is a chemical that acts as a sunscreen.  It has grown tiny circular structures (they are called apothecia and are important characteristics if you want to try and ID a lichen). Their function is to produce spores - lichens are in part a fungus and spores are how fungi reproduce.

The final kind of lichen is called a crustose lichen.  This has no leaves at all, just a powdery coating on the bark, but they can also produce those fruiting bodies I called apothecia.  In fact, they are essential to look at if you want to have a hope of naming the lichen.

Jam tarts on two different crustose lichens

One name for these structures is "jam tarts" as they can have an outer rim of one colour (the pastry) and and the inside can be a different colour (the jam).  I am not at the stage where I can name these ones other than to say they are in the group called Lecanora. 

So much to look at in just 15cm(6 inches) of twig.  And I haven't even told you about some of the other lichens!