British soldier lichen
A tiny, vividly colored lichen:
I look for this lichen and cup lichens in mosses in dry upland areas – pretty easy to find.
I have crocuses and squill blooming in the yard, but I haven’t seen any wildflowers yet. Bloodroot hasn’t emerged yet in the spots I check this time of year…
Nature Diary 
If you and Steve G. join forces, your British soldiers might finally be able to subdue those pesky colonialists. He posted a photo of them today, too.
Getting to see these twice in one day is quite a treat. They’re so bright, and unusual, and just plain fun to look at. I read that they’re fairly common in the northeast, but I would think that finding them still would be a treat. The combination of grayish-green and red is quite striking.
They are very easy to find, in this case on the same dry hilltop where I photographed little bluestem. And the same hill is the so-called Bloody Bluff, where British soldiers rallied after fighting on Lexington Green with the colonialists.
That’s really interesting. We’re accustomed to the Texas landscape being interwoven with history, but it’s not often I get a glimpse into the same sort of connections in your part of the world. Some day, a trip to New England would be wonderful, although I’ve already figured out it would need to be at least a three month trip to see everything.
I hadn’t thought about the historical connection until you wrote!
Great minds, Tom. 🙂
We’re both impatiently waiting for spring wildflowers!
I, too, was about to comment on the coincident posts when I saw that I was two comments late,
Same here~my bloodroot colony is keeping itself under wraps but my crocuses are nearly done. I have the tiniest daffodils I’ve ever seen blooming. I vaguely remember planting them last fall. Aww, so cute.
This photo is amazing! This is a fun lichen to come across, but I never get this good of a look at it.
I was so disappointed when I went to my favorite bloodroot patch, and didn’t even see any foliage. Thanks for the kind words…
Mine emerged yesterday in all that warmth. Perhaps if you go back it will be there waiting for you 🙂
I’ll go take a look soon. It’s been cold (30s) and rainy, but we’re due for sun and temps in the 50s in the next few days.
I forget that you aren’t here! Here’s to some sun making its way to you 🙂 Of course, we have now plunged back into there 30’s…
I heard that snow was expected in the midwest! Hope it warms up for you. 🙂 Still chilly here.
There was. I’ve never seen anything like it~ the snow flakes were very wide apart, but were the size of small snowballs and came down with a thud. Amazing. The wind howled all night but no trees came down, thank goodness. Hope it warms up for both of us soon!
Beautiful, they look like match heads, so bright…
Thanks! The lichen colors are remarkable – they are worth looking for, but they are tiny.
Amazing plant which looks like an alga !!! I love it 🙂
Thanks!
These make me wonder how the evolution of the red tops came to be. I wonder if it attracts a certain insect that helps spread spores or does some type of maintenance.
What an interesting question. I did a quick search on lichen color. One thing I had forgotten is that lichens are a symbiosis of fungi and algae. Algae give many lichens a greenish color. Maybe the red is from a fungal component. One article I read said that the wild colors of some lichens could be “sunscreen, protecting the sensitive algae from harmful UV radiation in sunny habitats”.
I’m eagerly awaiting my bloodwort coming up soon, also!
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These are fairly common here too, and so much fun to see. This photo stays really true to the colors, as I remember them, and the look of this lichen overall. Not necessarily an easy thing to do!
The reds in British soldier lichen need soft light, a nice burst of color that’s welcome while you wait for spring flowers.