Gaultheria shallon is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or gaultheria.
Cladonia rangiferina, also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-colored fruticose, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. It grows in both hot and cold climates in well-drained, open environments. Found primarily in areas of alpine tundra, it is extremely cold-hardy.
Polystichum munitum, the western swordfern, is an evergreen perennial fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns in forested areas. It occurs along the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to southern California, and also inland east to southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho and western Montana, with disjunctive populations in northern British Columbia, Canada; the Black Hills in South Dakota, United States; and Guadalupe Island off of Baja California, Mexico. Western swordfern is known to have locally naturalized in parts of Great Britain and Ireland.
Holodiscus discolor, commonly known as ocean spray or oceanspray, creambush, or ironwood, is a shrub of western North America.
Lonicera involucrata, the bearberry honeysuckle, bracted honeysuckle, twinberry honeysuckle, Californian Honeysuckle, twin-berry, or black twinberry, is a species of honeysuckle native to northern and western North America.
Bryoria fremontii is a dark brown, horsehair lichen that grows hanging from trees in western North America, and northern Europe and Asia. It grows abundantly in some areas, and is an important traditional food for a few First Nations in North America.
Letharia vulpina, commonly known as the wolf lichen, is a fruticose lichenized species of fungus in the family Parmeliaceae. It is bright yellow-green, shrubby and highly branched, and grows on the bark of living and dead conifers in parts of western and continental Europe and the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains of North America. This species is somewhat toxic to mammals due to the yellow pigment vulpinic acid, and has been used historically as a poison for wolves and foxes. It has also been used traditionally by many native North American ethnic groups as a pigment source for dyes and paints.
Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa, known as the tumbleweed shield lichen or ground lichen, is a foliose lichen in the Parmeliaceae family. It is not fixed to a substrate, and blows around in the wind from location to location.
Cladonia furcata or the many-forked cup lichen is a species of cup lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It has an intermediate to tolerant air pollution sensitivity. Extracts of this species have been shown to kill leukemia cells in vitro, and may have possible value in the treatment of cancer.
Gowardia is a genus of medium-sized, greyish hair lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It is a circumpolar genus, mainly restricted to arctic-alpine habitats in northern Canada, Europe, and Russia.
Pilophorus acicularis, commonly known as the nail lichen or the devil's matchstick lichen, is a species of matchstick lichen in the family Cladoniaceae.
Lichens of the Sierra Nevada have been little studied. A lichen is a composite organism consisting of a fungus and a photosynthetic partner growing together in a symbiotic relationship.
Stephen Sharnoff is a photographer, especially of botanical and lichen subjects. He specializes in close-up botanical color work. He is also a research associate at the University and Jepson Herbaria of the University of California, Berkeley and a past associate of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
A podetium is the upright secondary thallus in Cladonia lichens. It is a hollow stalk extending from the primary thallus. Podetia can be pointed stalks, club like, cupped, or branched in shape and may or may not contain the ascocarp, the fruiting body, of the lichen. It is not considered part of the primary thallus as it is a fruiting structure for reproduction.
In lichens, rhizines are multicellular root-like structures arising mainly from the lower surface. A lichen with rhizines is termed rhizinate, while a lichen lacking rhizines is termed erhizinate. Rhizines serve only to anchor the lichen to their substrate; they do not absorb nutrients, as do plant roots. Characteristics of the rhizines are used to identify lichens, for example, whether they are dense or sparse, uniformly distributed or clumped in specific areas, and straight or branched. Only foliose lichens may possess rhizines, not crustose or fruticose lichens, which lack a lower cortex.
Leucolepis acanthoneura is a species of moss in the family Mniaceae. It is known as leucolepis umbrella moss or Menzies' tree moss. It is endemic to the Pacific Coast in Canada and the United States.
Plagiomnium insigne, the badge moss or coastal leafy moss, is a species of moss found on humus in moist, shaded, lowland forests. It can also be found on soil along trails and other shaded, open areas. The moss sometimes forms lush, extensive mats.
Rhizomnium glabrescens, also called fan moss or large leafy moss, is a species of moss in the genus Rhizomnium.
Bruce Pettit McCune is an American lichenologist, botanist, plant ecologist, and software developer for analysis of ecological data.
Letharia columbiana is a common lichen in subalpine forests, particularly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and parts of Canada. It is in the family Parmeliaceae, and the genus Letharia. Its characteristics include a bright citron color, “brown-eyes”, and rounded, irregular branches. Though previously believed to lump together several lineages such as Letharia gracilis and others, there now exists more specific characteristics to identify the species. This lichen grows on the bark of conifers a couple inches tall. L. Columbiana’s cousin, Letharia vulpina (common name wolf lichen), has similar geographical distribution and morphological features, with the major difference being the “brown-eyes” of L. columbiana.
