Fungus, Lichen, Moss

November 10, 2020June 14, 2023
Flora and Fauna, Native to BC
by dhir

Last updated December 1, 2020. All photos taken by the author.

The bark of a living tree. Notice the green mosses and whitish-grey lichens.

Previously I asked you to look for some of the largest known organisms on Earth: trees. This week, find trees and then look more closely for some non-vascular plants (moss), fungi (not plants!), and lichen (fungi that have alga and/or cyanobacteria living in them and where both/all three species benefit from the arrangement).

Mosses are easy to find in our neighbourhood. I see them on rocks, trees (living and dead), lawns, and growing right in the soil. Look for fluffy green plant growth. At this time of year mosses are lush and green because of all the rain that has been fallen. Mosses are non-vascular plants meaning that, unlike trees, ferns, and all flowering plants, if one moss cell needs something, it must find or make it for itself. There are no vein-like tissues to transport nutrients or water from one part of the moss to another. It has no roots to bury into the ground to find deeper water. So, when it rains, all the moss cells can fill up with water and it looks full and fluffy and bright green. When it is dry for a few days the moss cells lose all their water and look flat and dry and yellowish. Spring and fall are great times to look for vibrant green moss.

Moss growing on tree roots beside a trail in a forest.

Closer side view of moss growing on a living tree.

Mosses were used by First Peoples across North America for many purposes, including lining baby cradles and diapers, lining cooking pits to create steam, and wiping the slime off fish.

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Fall is also a good time to look for fungus in the forests. Fungi are present in great numbers in our forests, but they are mostly hidden from view. The parts we see are the fruiting bodies (reproductive parts) that emerge for a few days or weeks to release the fungal spores. Fungi are not plants, although they are found in the grocery store produce section with fresh plant parts like fruits and vegetables. From studying DNA, scientists believe animals and fungi have a more recent common ancestor than animals and plants which means you and I are more like these spore-producers than like a Western red-cedar tree. Fungi are important decomposers and they are now busy helping break down all the fallen leaves and allowing those nutrients to be recycled.

Remember: DO NOT EAT ANY FUNGUS IF YOU ARE NOT 100% SURE OF ITS IDENTITY.

Fungi and moss on the cut end of a fallen log.

Closer look at the fungus on a fallen log.

The underside of the fungus. Spores will be released from the pores on the white undersurface.

A tiny (perhaps 2 cm diameter) mushroom growing in a grass field. I almost stepped on it.

A large (perhaps 12 cm diameter) mushroom growing in a forest near some deer fern. This mushroom has gills on the underside of the cap from where the spores are released.

Some puffball mushrooms. These do not have gills, but release spores when the puff breaks open.

Tall slender mushrooms growing among cultivated trees. A month later these mushrooms were still there!

Large fungi growing in a big-leaf maple tree trunk. (Yes, it’s the same photo I used last week.)

Top view of a fallen twig with some brown fungus on it. See next picture for bottom view.

Bottom view of a fallen twig with fungus on it. See picture above this one for the top view.

A big-leaf maple leaf that has spots of white and grey mould (fungus) growing on it. Fungi are important decomposers.

Fungi were not widely consumed by British Columbia’s First Peoples prior to the arrival of European settlers.

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Lichen are perhaps the most fascinating life I am asking you to look for this week. As I researched for this post, I came to realize that many of the “moss” I knew from childhood are actually lichen. In the areas around Burnaby I could only find scaly and leafy greenish-grey lichen, not the stringy black and green kind of older growth forests that are mentioned in books as used by First Peoples for food. I have seen lichen growing on living and dead trees, rocks, and even a metal hand railing. If you go for a walk around your neighbourhood check out the trunks of the cherry blossom trees to find lichen.Lichen on the bark of a Douglas-fir tree.

A foliose (flat leaf-like) lichen with podetia (hollow upright stalks) and apothecia (disc or cup-shaped structure lined at maturity with an exposed pore-producing surface) on the bark of a Douglas-fir tree. This picture makes me so happy, I think because it is something that is right in the open but that tens or hundreds of people would have walked past without even noticing it. This side of the tree is facing a small parking area and is exposed to direct sunlight for part of the day.

Small lichen with poditium growing on a fallen log. A palm-sized lichen may have taken 25 years to grow.

Lichen and moss on a fallen tree branch.

Lichen and moss on a Western red-cedar trunk.

Lichens are important for biological diversity and can be used in the study of air quality as they are both sensitive to pollutants and collect and concentrate pollutants in their tissues. Lichens are important foods for wildlife as well as being essential nest-building and nest-lining materials for birds and small mammals including bats. Lichens were used by First Peoples as a dye and pigment, poor quality clothing when skins were not available, artificial hair for masks, lining for diapers, a smoke source, a strainer, a wipe to clean slime off fish, and black tree lichen was cooked and eaten by many Interior First Peoples. 5 or 6 trees may have had enough lichen for one family’s needs for a whole year. Lichen is known to contain vulpinic acid, a bitter substance, which is removed by cooking well.

Interested in how humans sort life on Earth into categories? Check this out. Read this site about the newest Eukaryotic phylum, phylum Chromista which you won’t find in outdated textbooks.

That’s all for this week. Get outside, enjoy nature, and look closely at bark, rocks, and where you’re stepping to admire our ecosystems’ critical components: fungi, mosses, and lichens.

Books I used:

“Lichens.” Food Plants of Interior First Peoples, by Nancy J. Turner, Royal BC Museum, 2007, pp. 33–36.

“Lichens.” Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia, by Nancy J. Turner, Royal British Columbia Museum, 2019, pp. 49–51.

Mader, Sylvia S. Inquiry into Life. McGraw-Hill, 2003.

McCune, Bruce, et al. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press, 2009.

Petersen, Jens H. The Kingdom of Fungi. Princeton University Press, 2013.