Lichens

Ramalina menziesii

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So much detail hung right in front of my nose. Thallus strands of Ramalina menziesii twisted and turned like an open curtain. The background faded into a gray, keeping the eye on the curtain. Some strands formed the fine lace network that gives this lichen one of its common names, Fishnet. Others were wide like a yellow-green ribbon.

The lace lichen hung only inches from my eyes. So close that each eye seemed to be seeing a different part of the plant. Its yellowish-green leaves draped like long hair strands, although the middle ones were more like wide-egg noodles. Technically, these aren’t leaves but thalli. The Oxford Dictionary defines a thallus as “a … Read more