Bigelow's spike-moss ~ 06/09/11 ~ Pinnacles

possible Bigelow's spike-moss
possible Selaginella bigelovii
Selaginellaceae

posted 09/08/11 - Well, I'll be! Here's a new plant that totally has been beyond my radar. Calflora (linked in the scientific name above) calls this a mosslike fern, whereas Wikipedia lists it as a fern ally. Quite honestly, I'm still looking into the differences between spike-mosses and true mosses. This species is listed on the Pinnacles CNPS plant list, so it's a real possibility. I got the heads up from sdttds on my Flickr photo. For a nice blog post about Selaginella, check out In the Garden.

lichen and moss ~ 03/04/11 ~ Pinnacles

lichen and moss (or spike-moss)

Oooh, look at the pretty rocks! That's the best ID you're going to get out of me. I thought I'd try my hand at lichen ID this morning (posted 03/12/11). Ha! No way, José! If anyone can tell me the visual difference between Caloplaca ignea and Xanthoria elegans, please, please comment. There are an estimated 300+ species of lichens at Pinnacles. In the second photo above, I count at least 6 different kinds of lichen in about one square meter of rock. Seriously, who took the time to inventory all the lichen? If you're interested in lichen, I recommend these two great lichen sites: Lichens of North America (thanks to Ted at Beetles in the Bush from a comment made on Squirrel's View) and The California Lichen Society.

ps 09/08/11 - Thanks to help on my Flickr photo, the moss shown above may not actually be moss, but spike-moss, a totally different kind of plant. Who knew?