On Saturday 18th January 2025
Eleven people met at the Nethercraigs Road entrance to the country park for the third of the now annual lichen walks run by the society. Most were members of the society but we also had one person from the local British Lichen Society group. The intention of this walk was to look at some of the commoner and more distinctive crust lichens growing on stone and trees.
At the wall at the entrance we looked at some common lichens that grow on concrete kerbs. All the group also had a chance to have a poke at a bouncy jelly lichen growing in the wall.
The group moved on to lichens on trees where a number of crustose species were shown. A UV torch was used to show how different lichens fluoresce under UV light as an aid to identification. A fallen Ash tree provided a useful opportunity for everyone to be able to see a range of lichens growing on the trunk.
Some of the trees had moss growing on the trunks and within this moss we saw the specialist bryophytic species Coenogonium luteum and Normandina pulchella. This lichen is one of the few with a widely used common name – “Elf’s Ears”. On a rotten fallen tree nearby there was a large patch of “Turkey Tail” fungus.
We then moved on to some rocks where there where the more photogenic lichens such as Cladonia and Peltigera species. After everyone either had a good look or taken enough photos we moved on to nearby Hawthorn bush to discuss common lichens found on trees. As we made our way down the hill again we stopped to see some script lichens.
The walk over ran by about half an hour but we still managed to avoid any bad weather and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable couple of hours. We saw around 25 different species of lichens.
Report by Craig Postlethwaite
Photographs by Craig Postlethwaite, Gordon Phillips and Kirsty Menzies
Paisley Natural History Society 