Photos taken on 3/9/21 showing the variety of organisms growing on a single tree in Oregon. I've stated before that I live in the state of Oregon, and it is a really beautiful and special place. Oregon happens to be the 33rd state. I didn't know that before I moved here. Recently lots of people who grew up in California have moved here. I hope you enjoy the photos. God's creation is so marvelous.
Click on the images for higher quality to get a better look.
All of these photos are from the same tree. The tree is some type of Japanese Maple, which grows surprisingly well here. In the winter, even though the leaves fall off, the tree looks anything but naked. It is covered in myriad lichen (and moss) but I'm no biologist or anything, so I just make my own observations.
This one looks like a beard. Probably my favorite thing about these interesting organisms is the textures. Is this beard structure filtering?
This one is tiny when compared to the others, but it seems to be somewhat similar. One type of moss or lichen that there is plenty of here is the kind that grows flat on the surface of the tree or rock, but I didn't doccument those today. How cool are these tiny organisms? These things look like orange dirt particles from afar.
This one seems the most plant / moss like.
The following specimen seemed to prefer full shade, and grew close to the bark. In general, though, all of these organisms seemed to grow together with one another (except the orange tiny one seemed to prefer the joints of the tree).
If you click on the image and look around you can see some spire like structures as well as the more coral, or leafy like structure. I would guess the spires are a part of the reproductive cycle; they look like they could be spore-bearing. I'm referencing the structures seen in the top left of the following image. I should have gotten an image focusing on just the spires. Maybe I'll update this page with a better photo.
Last image. This lichen looks like the average of the other lichens. Kind of reminds me of that really bitter pokey lettuce that comes sometimes in the lettuce blends.
