SVIMS Lichen Foray Devonian May 2023

Juliet Pendray took SVIMS members on a second lichen learning walk at Devonian Park on May 6, 2023. The following Tuesday she delivered an informative presentation on lichens at the SVIMS month meeting. 
 

On the walk, SVIMS members had the opportunity to check out lichens in a rare and endangered Garry oak ecosystem. Volunteers, organized by the late Moralea Milne, have been keeping the Devonian Park ecosystems pristine by removing invasives.

Juliet talked during the walk about lichen characteristics and habitat. Participants were inspired by Juliet’s obvious  enthusiasm. 

Fishnet lichen (Ramalina menziesii)
Beaultiful Devonian Park
The crew
We're gonna try to get to here...
Steven 1, Steven,2 and Juliet heading out.
Juliet talks to the lichen.
Lichens are everywhere!
The group found lichens of many types and species. Among them were questionable rockfrog (Xanthoparmelia cumberlandii), many pixie lichens (Cladonia spp), conifer saucer lichen (Ochrolechia cf. oregonensis).
Frog pelt lichen (Peltigera)
Conifer saucer lichen (Ochrolechia cf. oregonensis).
Absolutely covered in pixie lichens (Cladonia spp.)

SVIMS helps with Salt Spring foray 2023

On Saturday, May 6, a group of mushroom enthusiasts from Salt Spring (their Facebook page) held a foray and invited several SVIMS people to join them. 

A group of seven SVIMS people tried to board the morning Schwatz Bay ferry to Salt Spring–only to find out that the morning ferries had been cancelled. However, they heard that the ferries were running a free pilot boat service to Salt Spring from the neighbouring Government Wharf. Making their way to the small dock, the small group were all able to fit into the 9:00 am run of the pilot boat and arrive in time for the foray.

Top photo by Mel Hesz, bottom photo by David Walde.

Prez Hesz examines one of the finds. Photo by Jan McIntyre
The SVIMS group and others on site. Photo by Vail Paterson

The group of SVIMS people and Salt Springers surveyed a second-growth forest on Cranberry Road. Thanks in part to the recent rains, there were lots of mushrooms to see. About 40 species were logged on iNaturalist. Some of the more interesting finds are described below. (Click on the pictures to see the iNaturalist entries.)

Mycena aciculata, the orange bonnet. Thanks to Ian Gibson for cueing us into this one. Looks like an Atheniella, but it’s not. It’s still listed as Mycena, but DNA studies suggest that it doesn’t belong in the Mycena genus either.

Lachnum virgineum, the hairy fairy cup. Thanks to Ian Gibson for this great stacked closeup photo.

Presumably the mushroom is called “virgineum,” virgin, because it is white, and virgins wore white at weddings. Except the theory doesn’t hold water. The mushroom was first named “virgeneum” in the late 1700s, and brides didn’t start wearing white until Queen Victoria popularized the tradition in the 1830s.

Trametes gibbosa. As common as fleas on the mainland, but we don’t often see this large, lumpy, white polypore on the islands.

Bertia moriformis. This unusual and not often documented asco is known as “wood mulberry.” Tyson Ehlers helped us ID this one.

Pseudoplectania nigrella. Round spores (see spore pic on the iNaturalist observation) make this one an easy ID. Without microscopy, though, there would other alternatives to consider.

Cudonia circinans has the funny common name “redleg jellybelly.” Reviewing their records, SVIMS members established in 2022 that this was a spring as well as a fall mushroom. It’s truly a club–nothing under the head but bald tissue. This asco club, by the way, has crazy-long ascospores. See the Kuo writeup on this species for a picture of the ascospores.

Monthly Meeting by Zoom Tues. May 9, 2023

Juliet Pendray is well known to most of you. Besides being an active member of SVIMS, she was an active member of Vancouver Mycological Society before moving here with James Holkko.

She is going to share lichens with all of us. 

This is a zoom-only meeting – members should have received a link from our SVIMS President on April 24.  6:45 pm to socialize. 7 pm to start.