Each living thing gives its life to the beauty of all life, and that gift is its prayer
Douglas Wood
Sun gleams through freshly fallen snow on the forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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It was a bright mostly sunny day in mid-January, shortly after a snowfall had covered everything with a powdery glitter of gentle beauty. I decided to walk a trail loop of the Trent Nature Sanctuary that would take me through several micro-ecosystems: 1) swamp forest of cedar-birch-pine-hemlock-poplar by the river / marsh; 2) upslope forest of beech-maple-oak-American hop-hornbeam (ironwood) and basswood; and 3) upland forest of ash-buckthorn-cherry-poplar). I was particularly interested in finding something new and focused on the micro-habitats inhabited by lichen, fungi and moss. To equip me, I brought my camera with two lenses, a pocket hand lens, and my lunch and clementine to sustain me. Then I set out along the snowy trails, boots crunching on the snow and listening to the trees crack, boom and groan in the chill wind.
And I was to be rewarded handsomely!
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Lichen, Fungi, Moss & Other Bits and Bobs…
Given that snow covered the ground, logs and glacial erratics in the forest, I concentrated my attention on the trees and shrubs.I saw many lichens. I saw so much growth. Mostly lichens and moss. Given the perennial nature and slow growth of lichens, they were guaranteed to always be there, though I was aware that lichens take on different forms over seasons and even daily conditions, with rather dramatic differences depending on moisture and temperature.
Trametes versicolor adds wonderful colour to a log lying by the trail, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Because decaying logs and the ground—both fertile substrates for growing fungi—were under snow and out of sight, I only found a few fungi, ones on the trees and branches and snags, mostly fungi known to brave the winter. Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) was a common winter sight, adding beautiful colour to bark and wood of living and dead trees.
Fomes fomentarius on a white birch tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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I also saw the Tinder Polypore (Fomes fomentarius), also called hoof fungus, on several white birch trees in the swamp forest. They were shaped like a horse’s hoof, tan coloured with brown concentric banding. Fomes fomentarius is found mostly on birch trees, but I’ve seen it on maples, poplars, and alders. I’ve seen them go much darker and almost black on a dead beech tree in a nearby forest; when they are dark like that they totally resemble a horse’s hoof.
Treesforlife describe tinder polypore as “a heart rot fungus and parasite of trees that are already weakened, for example by injury or drought.” According to FreshCap and PlantwisePlus tinder polypore infects hardwood trees by infiltrating broken bark and feeds off the wood as it grows and causes white rot, which spreads until the wood becomes soft and spongy and eventually the tree dies. At this point, the fungus becomes saprotrophic and helps breakdown the tough cellulose and lignin in the wood.
Irpex lacteus grows on the underside of a cherry tree branch, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Covering the underside of a cherry tree branch was another winter fungus, the wood rotting crust fungus Milk White Toothed Polypore (Irpex lacteus). It’s described as ‘resupinate’, which is a fancy way of saying that it looks like it’s growing upside down. The polypore’s ‘teeth’ are its spore-bearing tissue, which start as tubes or pores that break apart and turn brown as they age. Near the end of my walk I saw another surprising fungus on an old beech tree, which you’ll see later on in this article.
Moss with fruiting capsules on an exposed log, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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I found a profusion of mosses on many trees, mostly on the lower trunks and often concentrated on the northeast side. I also saw a “mysterious shadow beast” colonizing many poplars and maples, often close to obscuring the original bark. Its identity puzzled me at first—but I finally figured it out (which you’ll see later in this article).
Early in my walk, my camera captured tiny strange white donut-shaped life forms scattered among the mosses and lichen of an old poplar tree. They were no larger than the size of a pinhead and their bright white ‘donuts’ resembled plastic with a dark brown interior or disk. They seemed to be erupting out of the bark like some fungi do. I have still to identify this diminutive life form. Let me know if you know what it is…
My finger points to two of the tiny white ‘donut’ organisms, Poplar tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Strange white donut-shapes with brown interior are scattered on an old poplar, along with Frullania eboracensis and Phaeophyscia pusilloides, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Closeup of strange white donut-shapes (possibly the saprotrophic fungus Schizophylum amplum) along with liverwort Frullania and lichen Phaeophyscia on bark of a Poplar tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
There’s a wonderful postscript to this white ‘donut’ creature. I shared this photo with my communities on social media and, though they liked it, could offer no help identifying it. Then weeks later, by chance, I came across a photo posted on X of a very similar tiny creature on a tree: a similar white ‘donut’ with yellow-orange interior. The person had tentatively identified it as the fungus Lachnellula, which forms cankers on branches and trunks of larch trees, eventually killing them. But the colour wasn’t right; the inside on my example was decidedly rust brown, not yellow like his example. And my tree was a poplar. So, probably not, I thought. Another person had suggested the fungus Capitotrich, which looks very similar to Lachnellula and to my specimen and grows on several trees; but it also has a more yellowish-orange interior (hymenium) and is more hairy than my specimen. Then I had the bright idea of connecting my specimen to poplar trees and found a match! A young version of the saprotrophic fungus Poplar Bells (Schizophyllum amplum) was a total match, with white ‘donut’ surrounding a reddish-brown interior (hymenium), fruiting in early winter and known to grow in small groups as it was on the poplar tree I was examining.
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Lichens, Lichens Everywhere…
Some trees were sparsely covered and others—most of them—were abundantly covered in lichen carpets. Some lichen were shaggy with a combination of foliose (leaf-like) and crustose (crust-like) forms; others looked more like paint splatters of mostly crustose lichen (e.g. Lepraria). All complimented the bark rather well.
The lichen appeared in all sizes and shapes. Some lichen were mere specks of blue-gray or bright yellow like the tiny foliose Candleflame Lichen (Candelaria concolor), which seemed to prefer the maples and oaks.
Candelaria concolor finds a deep bark furrow of an old maple tree to get cozy in, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Other lichens formed small 1-2 cm diameter olive-green rosettes. Yet others spread their foliose ‘leaves’ to cover an area as large as my hand (e.g. Shield Lichen). I noticed that they were often more concentrated on the south and west sides of trees.
Shield Lichen (Parmelia) covers a poplar tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Large Shield Lichen, likely Parmelia squarrosa, on a maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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I saw shades of battleship gray forming small rosettes such as the Bottlebrush Shield Lichen (Parmelia squarrosa) and the green-gray pitted lobes of Hammered Shield Lichen (Parmelia sulcata). Other foliose rosette lichen, likely Physcia, were a brilliant Mediterranean Sea green with interesting mottling on their surfaces (thalli).
Lepraria lobificans on an American Hophornbeam trunk, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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On several cedars, birches, poplars, and hophornbeams of the swamp and upland forest, and often spread over their feet like a blanket, was the Fluffy Dust Lichen (Lepraria lobificans) resembling splashes of pale green paint. The genus name comes from the Greek word lepros, which means powdery or scaly. This shade-loving crustose lichen has a surface of vegetative soredia that look like a layer of thick dust—hence the common name. The genus name comes from the Greek word lepros, which means powdery or scaly. The lovely green shade comes from the photobiont, green alga partner Trebouxia.
Patches of Buellia erebescens on a young maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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On several maples, oaks and poplars I saw many 2 to 12 cm patches of whitish crustose lichen, spreading like paint splashes over smooth or crusty bark, and dotted with dark, almost black, ‘buttons.’ This is the Common Button Lichen (Buellia erebescens), a crustose lichen often found on conifers and oaks and other trees with bark of generally low pH. Others have reported seeing the Common Button Lichen on red maple (Acer rubrum).
Closeup views of Buellia erebescens, A. head on, and B. side view, showing the convex ‘buttons’ (apothecia) and green-white crustose thallus, Maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Lichens with Strange Names…
Most lichens have strange common names, I find. I think it rather endearing for this often overlooked and misunderstood super-phylum. Even the groups (based on some aspect of morphology) used by lichenologists have interesting names: shield lichens, pin lichens, dimple lichens, crater lichens, stipple lichens, dot lichens, stubble lichens, tube lichens, clam lichens, coral lichens, cup lichens, rim lichens, fringe lichens, disk lichens, script lichens, watercolour lichens, flask lichens, rosette lichens, dust lichens, ruffle lichens, pelt lichens, wart lichens, shadow lichens, and jellyskin lichens. Urban lichens, even; they’re the ones loitering in the dark alleyways of brick, fences, crash barriers and rusty cars.
Fairy puke lichen on rotting stump in Camosun Bog, BC (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Fairy puke lichen on old poplar tree, showing both orange and brown apothcia, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Common names for lichens can often vary greatly and may even represent diametrically opposite views or descriptions (hence the value of Latin names). For instance, I’d first run across Icmadophila elveloides inhabiting rotting logs in Camosun Bog, British Columbia, where it was known as Fairy Puke Lichen. It also goes by the common name of Candy Lichen. The apothecia of the mint-green lichens that I saw in the bog were wonderfully pink, like candy (or imagined fairy puke). The apothecia of the colony I saw on the poplar tree in Trent Forest, Ontario, were closer to orange—not so candy-like or fairy-like, for that matter. Florafinder mentions that the apothecia may vary from pink to pale orange and brown (the latter two shown in my photo of the Trent poplar). I’m guessing that the colour depends on environmental conditions like substrate chemistry and pH and on age.
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Lurking in the Shadows…
Small patches of Phaeophyscia pusilloides cover an old maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Phaeophyscia pulilloides, showing its extended black rhizines on old poplar tree; also with red ‘strings’ of Frullania and what may be the powdery whitish Bitter Wart Lichen (Pertusaria amara), Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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The grey-green to darker olive green Pom Pom Shadow Lichen (Phaeophyscia pusilloides) seemed to be everywhere, on ALL the trees: including the ash trees, poplars, maples, beech trees, oaks, ironwoods and birches. Rosettes of this foliose lichen varied from tiny 1 cm to chaotic spreads of 10 cm in diameter.
Phaeophyscia pusilloides on a poplar tree with my index finger to show size, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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This delightful pale olive lichen is distinguished by long narrow lobes and the thick curly black rhizines that extend beyond the lobes, resembling mascaraed eyelashes (also see Joe Walewski’s Lichens of the North Woods). Phaeophyscia pusilloides goes by the common name Pom Pom Shadow Lichen because of its pom pom-like appearance; though I just don’t buy it. Maybe I’m just not a pom pom kind of person…
Pom Pom Shadow Lichen showing its narrow lobes with extended black rhizines, Poplar tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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According to Italic 8.0, this temperate species prefers deciduous trees with nutrient-rich bark, particularly Black Walnut and Ash, and is not normally seen in urban areas.
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Mysterious Shadow Beast…
Liverwort Frullania eboracensis forms circular colonies on a maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
On the upslope and upland forest ecosystems I noticed mysterious dark, almost black, rosettes of branching tiny lobes or scales that covered many trees, particularly those with fairly smooth bark: young poplars, maples, birches, and beech trees of any age. Circular colonies were most often concentrated on the north and east facing sides of trees.
Frullania eboracensis concentrate colonies on the northeast side of A. maple and B. birch, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Frullania eboracensis colonizes Poplar tree along with Script Lichen and Pom Pom Shadow Lichen, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
This mysterious shadow beast was as common in these forests as the Pom Pom Shadow Lichen; they made quite a pair, covering much of the bark of trees between them. The lobed branches of this ‘beast’ appressed tightly against the bark in spreading patches everywhere on the trees. They formed radiating reticulated circles, some were as large as the palm of my hand. Closer inspection with my hand lens revealed that most growths were dark crimson in colour–some were greenish to olive green–and the branches held the occasional lighter coloured blob, possibly a fruiting body. The branching propagules, no more than 1 mm wide, also seemed to entangle and possibly associate with larger bright green scales of young moss or some other squamulose plant-like organism. Or were they part of the same thing?
Frullania eboracensis forms a wide circle on a young maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
I looked everywhere, in my keys for lichen and fungi and mosses, and found nothing. I finally surrendered to that den of unruly gossip and rumour—the internet—and chanced upon an image of the very same beast. Someone had posted on Reddit their encounter with this strange beast on an aspen tree in Scotland. The response from one expert was: the leafy liverwort in the genus Frullania. I’d found my mysterious shadow beast! iNaturalist informed me that Frullania eboracensis (New York Scalewort) occurs in Ontario on deciduous trees such as maple, oak, ash, elm, birch, ironwood, and beech. This flat-like thalloid liverwort fit the identification criteria for my specimen.
Branching Frullania eboracensis on a maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
New York Scaleworts grow flat against the bark with an overall copper-red to reddish-brown colour. Leaves are bi-lobed—shaped like a mitten with the ‘thumb’ an encased water sac that supports an entire community of microorganisms such as rotifers and tardigrades. The leaves of Frullania eboracensis are crowded and overlap like scales; hence the name scalewort. This leafy liverwort is also dioecious, forming male and female reproductive organs on different plants. Male plants produce their reproductive organs on short lateral branches that have several pairs of leaf-like bracts, which resemble the leaves, except they are smaller. Female plants produce their reproductive organs at the tips of stems. The female reproductive organs are contained in bud-like perianths, which are partly surrounded by three pairs of bracts. This leafy liverwort can also reproduce asexually by forming gemmae (miniature buds) along the margins of its leaves, and new plants can develop when the gemmae become detached from them.
Dense growth of Frullania eboracensis on a maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Closeup of Frullania eboracensis on maple, showing possible fruiting bodies, gemmae, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
When I returned to photograph this interesting scalewort, I discovered that the bright scaly-leaved ‘plant’ I’d noticed growing next to it on some trees was in fact the flat-leaved scalewort (Radula complanata); the one photographed here was growing on an old poplar tree, right next to the New York Scalewort. This leafy liverwort, which I’d originally mistaken for young moss, had leaves twice the size of the New York Scalewort and was bright green with incubous leaves and flat square perianths at the end of the branches. Floral Finds notes that this leafy liverwort prefers bark and rotten wood.
Two liverwords, Radula complanata (green) and Frullania eboracensis (dark crimson) growing on a poplar tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Liverwort Radula complanata growing on Poplar tree; note the flat square perianths at the end of the branches, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Magic Dust…
Lecanora thysanophora growing on left side of old maple tree with several other lichens visible, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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On the maple-beech dominated upslope forest, I spotted an old friend on several sugar maple trees: Mapledust Lichen (Lecanora thysanophora). This crustose leprose (scurfy, scaly or dust-like) lichen formed an intensely beautiful often concentric thallus of a powdery green (due to the green algal partner, Trebouxia) encircled by a white to blue webby margin (the fungal partner), a fibrous prothallus that resembled asbestos fibres—the radiating fungal hyphae and actively growing region.
Close up of Lecanora thysanophora showing the fungal fibrous leading edge of the colony witih blue edging and inner thallus of powdery green from alga Trebouxia, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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As its common name implies, this corticolous lichen prefers to grow on the trunks of deciduous trees, particularly young sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and is most times found in mature maple forests such as the one I walked through.
This lichen is known for the presence of unidentified terpenoids known as “thysanophora unknowns.” Harris, Brodo and Tønsberg note that “besides being recognizable in the field, it is distinctively chemically, containing usnic acid, zeorin, often porphyrilic acid, and several species-specific terpenoids.”
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From Commas to Scripts …
Two views of Chysothrix caesia: A. on a beech tree (note suspicious white fluff); and B. on a maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photos by Nina Munteanu)
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Being a writer, I was treated to several rather erudite lichen groups. The first ‘literary’ lichen I encountered was the Frosted Comma Lichen (Chrysothrix caesia or Arthonia caesia), spreading its tiny frosted blue punctuations all over a green sheet on a poplar tree near the river. The thallus was about a centimetre in diameter. It was granular and green from the algal partner; the apothecia (or ascomata) were blue-grey and I’m told they only appear in winter.
Arthothelium spectabile growing on an old maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Arthothelium spectabile growing on the bark of an old maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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The old maple tree in the upland forest (the same tree that was home to Lecanora thysanophora and several other lichens I talk about here) was home to the comma lichen Arthothelium spectabile. I’m told that Arthothelium lichens can be immersed in a substrate or grow on its surface; this is something I observed on this old maple. The reproductive structures of these comma lichens are called discs that resemble apothecia; they are red-brown to black in color and can be flat, convex, elongated, or star-like—all shapes I saw on the old maple.
Patches of Graphis scripta on a poplar tree, along with shadow lichen and scalewort, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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I’d already encountered the Script Lichen in another nearby forest (Mark S. Burnham Forest) on a beech tree, noted for its smooth bark, good for writing. This time the Common Script Lichen (Graphis scripta) was on several young poplars and maples in the upland forest. The black lines are the fruiting bodies (the apothecia). The white or grey ‘paint’ is the body or thallus.
Graphis scripta lichen on a poplar tree showing A. overall thallus and B. close up showing the script-like dark apothecia.
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The script really is magic script because it isn’t always there, usually appearing in winter when the apothecia (the squiggly ‘script’) show up. I found a colony of Graphis scripta with a darker grey thallus on the same old maple that had the comma lichens.
Graphis scripta with darker thallus on old maple tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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The same poplar tree that had the Script Lichen was also home to the Aspen Comma Lichen (Arthonia patellulata) a comma lichen known to be exclusive to aspen trees, preferring the smooth bark of young poplars. Ways of Enlichenment reported it on Trembling Aspen in Saskatchewan.
Arthonia patelluta below Graphis scripta, with Phaeophyscia pusilloides and Frullania on poplar tree, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Mossy Cliffs…
Continuing in the upland forest, I noticed one old craggy-barked poplar tree covered in a lush bright green carpet of moss. Closer inspection with my macro lens revealed a dramatic landscape of granite-looking furrowed pink-brown bark covered in snaking propagules of tufted moss (Ulota crispa). They climbed and draped like ivy and ferns clinging on a rocky cliff.
Ulota crispa moss clings to poplar bark like ferns to a rocky cliff, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Ulota crispa moss clinging to rock-like craggy bark of an old Poplar tree; note the comma lichen at top centre, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Ulota crispa moss climbs the rocky ‘cliffs’ of furrowed poplar tree bark, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Winter doesn’t stop the moss from flourishing; in fact, moss keep growing under the snow quite happily, taking up the moisture from the snow and able to photosynthesize with the light coming through.
According to Jerry Jenkins, author of Mosses of the Northern Forests, Ulota crispa (Crisped Pincushion Moss) is the most common tree bark moss in northern forests.
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The Old Beech Tree…
Old beech tree covered in tiny white fluff of scale insect Cryptococcus fagisuga, particularly on right branch, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Sadly, on the last leg of my tour through the forest, as I made my way down the upslope forest through a beautiful beech-maple stand with understory of American Hop-Hornbeam and the occasional statuesque oak, I noticed that my favourite large old beech tree was in trouble. It stood paired up with an equally old and huge maple, like an old couple, and had surrounded itself with many young.
But this old matriarch—probably centuries old—was in the throws of beech bark disease (BBD). At first, I only noticed the tiny white specks stuck to the bark like tiny bits of white wool. Then I noticed that the lower trunk was covered in red patches down by its feet.
Close up of fungus Neonectria bursting out of beech bark cracks formed by the scale insect Cryptococcus fagisuga, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Closer inspection showed red ‘grapes’ bursting through the bark. These are the fruiting bodies of the fungus Neonectria spp. The white flotsam are the poop of the beech scale insect Cryptococcus fagisuga that feeds on the beech tree bark, and creates cracks that allow the native canker fungus to enter. In the fall, the red fruiting bodies (perithecia) of the fungus appear as small red dots in the cankers which grow and each perithecium releases ascospores that are windblown to another tree and cause infection there.
Red ‘grapes’ of Neonectria burst out of the cracks in beech bark made by the scale insect, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
As the cankers spread throughout its trunk, this old beech is now more prone to go down in a high wind, a condition known as “beech snap.” Unfortunately, I saw the same white flotsam on the younger neighbouring beech trees. I’m guessing that the entire stand will be gone within a few decades, leaving the giant maple all alone. Though, to be sure, that old matriarch already has some good company in her companion maples, the majestic oaks nearby and a coterie of American Hop-Hornbeam trees. But she won’t find another soul mate like that old beech tree…
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Loitering on the Fence Post…
Trumpet Lichen rising up in ‘song’ on the wood gate to the park, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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Not to end my walk on a low note, I noticed a cheerful colony of lichen that had crowded themselves on the old fence gate at the entrance to the park. Glorious ‘trumpets’ of the Trumpet Lichen (Cladonia fimbriata) rose to the heavens from a froth of squamulose ‘leaf’ scales all along the fence. They seemed to be saying: not all is lost! These sun-loving lichen are known to occur on old wood. Their splash cups help the lichen reproduce: as rainwater splashes into the cup, vegetative structures or spores from the apothecia (at the tip of the cup) are ejected and sent on a journey to hopefully grow into a new lichen and populate another substrate. And so it goes…
Path along the upslope forest of Trent Nature Sanctuary, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
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References:
Jenkins, Jerry. 2020. “Mosses of the Northern Forest: A Photographic Guide.” Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca. 169pp.
Walewski, Joe. 2007. “Lichens of the North Woods.” Kollath & Stensaas Publishing, Duluth, MN.
Cedar branches dripping from a fresh snowfall, Trail in Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)
Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.
