Observing the Smaller Creatures: UBNA

Date:5/30/14

Time: 2:00-3:00

Weather: Full Sun

Temperature: 70 degrees

Here are some of the lichen I saw at the Union Bay Natural Area:

 1. This is a crutiose lichen, the Pixie Cup lichen (Cladonia asahinae) I found it on a rotting log near the trail and its very small- each cup is about 1 mm wide or less.  It is a Ascomycota and I'm guessing foliose and frutiose, based off the base formation and pixie cups. It grows off of mosses like the ones in this photograph.

2.  I found this lichen growing slightly farther down the log, but I think it is either the same Cladonia asahinae or a different species. They look very similar aside from the cup shape.

 

3. Here's the other lichen I found that is all over the willow, cottonwood, and orchard trees around the UBNA. This lichen, called Xanthoria parietina, is a crutiose (and maybe foliose?) lichen in the division Ascomycota.

When you look at Xanthoria close up, it looks like this, with cuplike crutiose formations and also foliose formations.



4. I spotted a foliose lichen called Parmelia sulcata growing on the branch of a scouler's willow alongside some Xanthoria. My camera had died by then, but here is a photo of the lichen I found online. I think this is the lichen that Noelle was saying some use for their nests because it sticks like velcro: 





5. Enough lichen! I found these Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor, shelf fungus growing off a decaying log at UBNA:

6. In the lawn near the CUH, I found a mushroom that I think is a Corprinus plicatilis:




7. Lastly, I saw a Phellinus igniarius, which is in the basidiomycota division and has spores (white base).



Here are some phenological observations I made this week at my site:
The water levels at my pond were so much lower to the point that my site has become more of a marsh than a pond. Here are some specimen I collected this week:



The flower on the left is the unidentified bog plant that is getting denser and denser in the mudbanks of the pond. It has diamond shaped leaves, purple flowers, and is pretty delicate. The next specimen, the rush, is starting to flower with these tight compound florets. On the Salix scouleriana branch are the two lichens I found- the Xanthoria and Parmelia. The leaf is also scouleriana and has a Willow Apple Gall- an infestation by sawfly, Pontania californica. This is at least my best guess after a bit of searching, I can't figure out the range of the californica species but it is probably this species. Apparently, this gall is planted by the sawfly mother, and which has larvae inside that will develop and then exit through a hole in the back of the gall. I collected a couple leaves with galls on them (the tree was completely infested, probably over 100 galls) and I cut one open but there were just small egg like dots inside. I think the galls were just "planted" and that it will take a while for the larvae to develop inside. Crazy!
The last specimen I collected is the Red Osier Dogwood flower, which is no longer blooming but now seems to have fruit like formations. I'm curious about this because I don't really know what the dogwood fertilization and seed dispersal process is. I'm guessing that birds would eat these small fruits and disperse the seeds.

Coprinus plicatilis

Coprinus plicatilis

Coprinus plicatilis