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Fruticose
lichens tend to be more upright and only basally attached to the
substrate, and have a wide variety of forms. They have no upper and
lower surfaces and are generally cylindrical in shape, like a tree
or shrub. The commonly encountered genera, Bryoria and
Usnea, have a branched thallus and look like a miniature
bush or beard. Some of these hang from branches, resembling Spanish
"moss". |
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Once you
learn to identify the more familiar lichens in the field, you may
want to start a modest collection of your own. Begin by acquiring a
few inexpensive pieces of equipment to accompany your hand lens. A
rock hammer and cold chisel, available at most hardware stores,
will enable you to chip away pieces of rock, leaving the lichen
intact. Rocks shatter and hammers sometimes miss the target! A
gardener's glove for the hand holding the chisel, and safety
goggles, are essential. Strive for as thin a piece of rock as you
can chisel off without destroying the attached lichen. |
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Next you
will need a sturdy straight knife with sheath. Keep it sharp! A
dull knife is more dangerous to use than a sharp one. Don't have a
folding knife; it will fold on your finger while you are working.
The knife will assist you in removing foliose and fruticose lichens
from the substrate, or in collecting lichen-bearing bark with the
lichen still attached. Sometimes the lichens will be dry and
crumbly. A bit of moisture will make them much easier to collect.
Use a small spray bottle, available at the local hardware store and
filled with tap water. Put this equipment in a cloth grocery bag,
add your hand lens, and you will be ready to go. |
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When you
have collected a specimen, keep a record of the date and place you
found it. Also note the material it was attached to, as this may be
helpful later for accurate identification. Put each specimen in a
paper bag. Plastic sacks are not so good, as they retain moisture
which may cause the lichen to mold. When you get home, you can
transfer your lichens to individual paper envelopes for future
reference. They will last a long time. Some of the lichens
collected by Linnaeus, the famous 18th century Swedish botanist,
are still identifiable today. |
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One of the
imagined difficulties of learning to know the lichens comes from
the use of Latin names. This should not be a problem! It is true
that |
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