MOSSES, LIVERWORTS, LICHENS and FERNS
at
MANSION ORCHARD, FOWLESCOMBE
We thank Barbara and Richard Barker for letting us
come on a treasure hunt through their orchards .
This is a challenge for you, to search for flowerless
plants in Mansion Orchard. All you need is a
magnifying glass (never go out without one). See how
many of these flowerless plants you can find and admire
them through the magnifying glass. Each one takes us
into another world , strange yet beautiful.
Walk down to this gate , the entrance to Mansion
Orchard.
Can you see the ‘Apple-green Lichen ‘ (Flavoparmelia
caperata) growing on the gate?
Lichens (pronounced ‘likens’) are remarkable
organisms, being a partnership between an alga and a
fungus. One of the first to suggest this was Beatrix Potter,
who was a scientist and farmer as well as best-selling
children’s author. Lichens grow best on bare surfaces,
such as wood or rock. This rhyme neatly reminds us of
their symbiotic relationship:
Alice Alga and Freddy Fungus
Took a lichen to each other.
Unfortunately, their marriage is on the rocks!
Or up an apple-tree!
There are nearly 2,000 species of lichens growing in
Britain and about 500 of them are quite common. So
they are a challenge .
Lookfor the Pussy Willow tree on your left. On the twigs
look for little tufts of Usnesa Lichen. This one is probably
Usnea subfloridana or U.flavocardia.
When Usneas are young
they are little, grey tufts
but as they grow they droop
down , like grey beards.
Growing along the twigs,
next to the tufts of Usnea, is another lichen, ‘Pearly
Lichen’ Parmotrema perlatum .
Here is some more ‘Pearly Lichen’ ; curly, pearly-grey
leaves but dark underneath.
Can you find any ‘Oak Moss’? This is not a moss but a
lichen called Evernia prunastre.
‘Oak Moss’ has long been used for dyeing and as a
fixative for perfume -making in Eastern Europe. In
Britain it was mixed with rose petals to make a hair
powder which discouraged head-lice. In the Middle East
it has been used for flavouring bread. An antibiotic
can be made from the usnic acid it contains. Lichens
have many uses.
Go on into the
orchard and look at the old trees. You may recognise
some of them from these photos .
They are old but rich in mosses and lichens
The twigs can be covered with lichens like this:
And the trunks and branches can be covered with
mosses and ferns like this:
Can you find ‘Apple-green Lichen’ , like this one in
the photo, on the twigs or branches ?
Now look for ‘Pearly Lichen’ on the twigs and branches?
Use your magnifying glass to see them close up.
Can you find any patches of ‘Scribble Lichen’ (Graphis
scripta) ? This one looks particularly good through a
magnifying glass.
‘Burnt Tarts Lichen’ (Physcia aipolia) often grows on
the knobbly bits of twigs. If you have a vivid
imagination, the dark discs that produce the spores look
like jam tarts left in the oven too long.
There are about 750 different species of moss in
Britain . Someone described mosses as like love, “They
hide all defects with their own loveliness .”
Each moss thrives in its own special place. ‘Mouse-tail
Moss’ (Isothecium myosuroides) grows best low down on
the trunk of a tree, especially an oak tree . It is doing
well on this apple tree .
Can you find it?
Here is some on a branch.
Some mosses grow only on thin twigs, like this
‘Pincushion Moss’, (Ulota) , which grows in little tufts.
Growing on thicker twigs or thin branches, look for
‘Common Pincushion’ (Dicranoweisia cirrata), which is
a larger cushion about 2 or 3 c m. across.
Plait Mosses spread over branches. ‘Mammillate Plait
Moss’ (Hypnum andoi) often grows a little higher up the
trunk or branches of the tree and hangs down. The
capsule, in which the spores ripen, looks like a cow’s teat,
with a nipple at the tip.
Rough-stalked Feather Moss (Brachythecium
rutabulum) is a very common moss. Search for it on the
thicker branches . The tips of the moss are pale, almost
white.
There are about 300 species of Liverworts in Britain,
most of them growing in very damp places. The
common Liverwort in Mansion Orchard is ‘Scalewort’
(Frullania) , which forms purple –brown, shiny patches ,
on twigs, branches and trunks.
Through the magnifying glass you can see , along the
stems, lines of tiny cups, which collect water to keep it
moist.
Ferns are much easier to recognise than lichens or
mosses, because there are fewer of them . There are
about 40 species in Britain and only about 12 can be
seen at Fowlescombe. Many ferns look as if an architect
had designed them. Each frond has a central stem from
which branch, at right angles, side shoots called
pinnae.
Some of the old Apple trees have Polypody Fern growing
on them. Polypody means many feet. I think they look
more like many eye-lashes, beautiful, green eye-lashes.
Look in the grass and by
the walls round the orchard for some more ferns.
Hartstongue Fern (Phyllitis scolopendrium) is easy to
recognise, for the fronds are like green tongues.
There are three common ferns that look similar to
the shape of a shuttlecock, with fronds instead of
feathers. The lowest pinna of these is always short.
Soft-shield Fern (Polystichum setiferum) ; grows here in
the orchard . It is the commonest fern along our
hedgerows. Its short, lowest pinna has little leaves with
prickles at the tips. If you imagine each litle leaf is a
hand, it has a thumb sticking out!
The magnifying
glass shows the thumb and the prickles.
From the top: Soft-shield , Male and Broad Buckler.
The fern most like a shuttlecock is Male Fern
(Dryopteris filix-mas . This is a name of the species, not
their sex
Many of our Male
Ferns are more than a metre tall and have lots of
golden scales on the stem; these are Scaly Male Fern
s(Dryopteris affinis). The little leaflets on the bottom
pinna of a Male Fern , compared to Soft-shield or Lady
Fern, are blunt and simple .
Lady Fern (Athyrium felix-femina) is more delicate.
It dies
down in the winter more than Soft-shield or Male Ferns.
It prefers damper places. Look at the bottom pinna. Like
the Soft-shield and Male, it is short but the edge of the
little leaflets is wavy, as if trimmed with lace; much
prettier than the blunt and simple Male.
Broad Buckler Fern (Dryopteris dilatata) is different.
The bottom pair of
pinnae of Broad Buckler Fern is big, often the longest
pinnae on the whole frond. Look hard at these lowest
pinnae ; can you see that the half that grows down from
the central stem is longer than the half that grows up?
To identify Broad
Buckler, you just have to remember that BB stands for
Big Bottom! From left to right these are: the bottom
pinnae of Soft Shield, Male and Broad Buckler.
FLOWERLESS PLANTS
at NEW ORCHARD,
FOWLESCOMBE
New Orchard is on the
site of an old orchard
but has been newly
planted in the last
ten years. It is interesting to see how many different
lichens and mosses are already growing on the young
apple trees.
The next photos are from one tree. To find it go to the
gate by the steps leading down from the main drive.
From the gate walk out into the orchard , counting the
apple trees protected by fences. Stop at the sixth tree.
At first sight, this is not a handsome tree; it looks
rather pathetic. It is thin, leaning to one side and some
of the bark has been bitten or scraped off.
But look at the lichens growing there and you can see
it is really beautiful .
There are leafy lichens looking a little like ‘Applegreen Lichen’ but a greyer-green and with white,
powdery patches like this. These are ‘Powder-puff Lichen’
(Parmelia sulcata).
Can you find ‘Sunburst Lichen’ (Xanthoria parietina)
and ‘Cat’s Whiskers Lichen’ (Physcia adscendens).
Both of these species thrive where the nutrient content of
the air is rich, as near farmyards where there are cattle.
There are some tufts
of ‘Flat-disc Twig
Lichen’ (Ramalina
fastigiata).
You may find other
‘Twig Lichens’. The
commonest is ‘Floury
Twig Lichen’
(Ramalina
farinacea) or the one
below, which is probably ‘Broad Twig Lichen’ (Ramalina
canariensis).
Look at some of the other trees in New Orchard,to see if
you can recognise any of these lichens on them too.
Why are different mosses and lichens growing in
Mansion and New Orchards?