Yesterday, I told you about Gracie’s fun which included a lot of sniffing! I certainly do not possess an olfactory organ that is worth a hoot, even for a human. LOL. So of course, my fun is more of a visual thing.
Off to side of trail, the Lace Cactus (Echinocereus reichenbachii).
It is a very lovely cactus. However, all of that species I saw that day, none seemed to have any fruit.
A foliose lichen loomed over this Lace Cactus! The lichen is most likely, Powdered Ruffle Lichen (Parmotrema perlatum). A lot the lichens in the Parmotrema genus have rather large lobes like this one.
The damp weather certainly brought out the lichens brightest colors. This one branch has multiple types of lichens; crustose, fruticose, and foliose!
This lovely Grimmia moss with its silvery appearance was delightful on the eyes!
The leaf miners had been at work on a Rusty Blackhaw leaf!
A fantastic fossil! It took a close look to decide that it was really a fossil.
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know.
5 Comments
My cacti, similar to that one but not sure if the same, did not bloom this year. First time since ive had it. I love love the moss. Wish it and the rock its on were in my yard. Very interesting fossil.
I have grown Lace Cactus for decades and have only had fruit on it one time in all those years. And they are very slow to produce side shoots. So I can’t figure out how they keep their populations going. They are also sensitive to too much rain or moisture standing in their root systems.
My cacti, similar to that one but not sure if the same, did not bloom this year. First time since ive had it. I love love the moss. Wish it and the rock its on were in my yard. Very interesting fossil.
I love the Grimmis moss. Ft Richardson was one of my favorite field sites
I have grown Lace Cactus for decades and have only had fruit on it one time in all those years. And they are very slow to produce side shoots. So I can’t figure out how they keep their populations going. They are also sensitive to too much rain or moisture standing in their root systems.
I LOVE your lace cactus closeup! The arrangement of the spines is beautiful. The barnacle fossil is amazing – it looks like gar skin!
Thank you and I have never seen a close up of gar skin, but if I do I will try to think about the fossil. 🙂