By: Blonde One
Cladonia floerkeana, but it has a few other names that are much better: Dartmoor Matchstick, British Soldier and most common the Devil’s Matchstick. It’s only about 2 cms tall but its bright red top makes it quite easy to spot. As with most of our blogging, we learn about our topics as a result of writing about it. I learnt that the Devil’s Matchstick is more common in the North than the South and I learnt that lichen will grow more in areas that have less air pollution. This one was seen on the side of a rock in the middle of Foxtor Mire!
The combination of that flower and its habitat is sheer delight. You say it is more prevalent in the north, but I have never seen it, although I am not a dedicated flora observer, so I rushed off to look it up in my treasured Marjorie Blamey, Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland. I was devastated not to find it. Googling informed me that it is classified as a “lichen” and I hadn’t realised that they are a separate entity – a whole new world has opened up – must go and find a “lichen” book.
I’ve gone and done it again – same as somebody else back there. If you don’t fill in the boxes with your details you become “anonymous” – that last one was me
Apparently is is called ‘lichenography’. We have a Blonde friend who knows lots – I agree, a book would be a great idea. I once counted 11 different types in a square metre. (I was waiting for teams in the rain!)
That’s a lovely photo Blonde One! It will go well with the ladybirds. I have a book with some lichens in it that lists 17 cladonia species but only two of the ones pictured have the red tips. The same book does grasses (not enough information for identification in many cases), ferns(ditto) and mosses, so maybe I should look for something more detailed too. The pictures are good in the book I have, though, and I have other books dealing with grasses. Graveyards are good places for lichens – found quite a lot when I was looking at First World War memorials.