Settle Wildflowers - Day 117 - Trees of Langcliffe Churchyard 1 - Lichens and Liverworts on Lime tree trunk

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I have been asked to make a Tree Nature Trail for Langcliffe Churchyard, as one of many activities for an Open Day - Tea afternoon - on 14 August

This gives me an incentive to explore the churchyard and surrounds

Do you know how many different trees and shrubs there are in the churchyard? 

I'll tell you in a later post.

But just outside the churchyard there are five extra tree species, including THE LIME. There are several lime trees, both on The Green and one next to the north wall of the churchyard at the foot of Langcliffe Brow. It is this one we are examining here, hand lens at the ready:-

Here is the lime tree. You can see there are lichens and mosses growing on its trunk

L is for Langcliffe.

L is for Lime.

L is for Lichen.

L is for Liverwort.

And I'll throw in the moss Ulota phlyllantha as well, as it has lots of ls in its name

At the top left of the picture you see the lime fruit.

If I had come two months earlier I could have photographed the flowers - and taken some home to make "Tisane"   a herbal infusion that is relaxing and helps you to sleep well.

Lime leaves have an asymmetrical heart shape

On the trunk we have a thallose liverwort:-

Metzgeria    fruticolusa or temperata Bluish /Whiskered Veilwort
- a thallose liverwort. This species grows well where there are nitrogen chemicals in the air

. The strap shaped liverwort has a midrib. the straps start parallel sided but some of them taper and have little green blobs (gemmae) on them  - The gemmae can fall off and grow into new Metzgeria plants (Gemma: A budlike mass of undifferentiated tissue which serves as a means of vegetative reproduction among mosses and liverworts.) 

 Bluish /Whiskered Veilwort - I'm not exactly sure which - I will collect a few strnds and keep them and if they go violet then they are   fruticolusa

Close up

The name of this moss below is Frizzled Pincussion : Ulota phyllantha  the upper leaves of each shoot support brown gemma

Lichens

The big white patches on the trunk are Phlyctis argena

Physconia grisea

Cladonia species

Parmelia sulcata

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