Lichen

 

Lichens are bioindicators revealing the quality of the local air, and by their abundance about the forest I feel confident suggesting the forests' air quality is good. Lichen festoons the trees in some stands, giving the woodland an ancient fairytale feel. I'm sure it has increased in prevalence during my time wandering the forest, as have the wealth of mosses which blanket trunk and bough, forming plush carpets amongst shaded coniferous stands. I'm not sure what the term is for the woodland not quite classifiable as Temperate Rainforest, but the New Forest has a lot of contenders.

British Soldiers

British Soldiers (Caldonia cristatella)

Lichen and moss

The canopy's gone revealing an easily overlooked, or at least ignored, aspect of the forest, and remnant of its' ancient past. You'll notice now the woods are naked, especially when it's wet, that many of the forests' trunks, boughs and branches, down to its' smallest, are either covered in myriad variety of vibrant green mosses or appear to have a grey green hue to them, the consequence of a wide range of lichens. Both moss and lichen are members of the forests' non-vascular plant community, their presence hereabouts a reminder of the temperate rainforest which was once common around Britains' Atlantic coast. Temperate rainforest isn't just rare, it takes rare to the limit with only 1% of it remaining worldwide. Strongholds of temperate rainforest in England are in the south west and north west; in the south west places like Cornwall, Dartmoor and Exmoor, and in the north west, places like the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. So we're lucky to have elements of it here.

Watch your step!

Although the soils of the exposed open forest heath are poor, sand and gravels for the most part, with only a thin layer of usually impoverished soil, the ground supports a colourful world in miniature of mosses and lichens. On close inspection you can but wonder at the works of nature, who needs science fiction, the world around us is populated by a myriad of alien-ness. I'm going to try and get some better shots of the forest floor it's crazy.

They're lichen clean air

They say Lichen only thrives in really clean air, and there's certainly clean air out here amongst the stands, as is clear by the healthy nature of the forests lichen communities.  Bushy varieties are supposed to be the most fussy too, and they do particularly well out here. 

A love of lichen

I love a bit lichen.

Lichen

You're not lichen this! You moss be kidding :) 

I can loose myself for an age exploring the forms and colours of lichen, trying to fathom how many types there are on a single tree. Considered one to be amongst the oldest living organisms on the planet (with really long life spans too), this groovy symbiont comes in so many different forms.  How could you not love them.