by Keith and Heather Nicol
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| "Usnea" (Old Man`s Beard) is a common lichen found in the park |
We did a
wildflower walk earlier in the summer with the Strathcona Wilderness Institute
and really enjoyed that so when we saw that they were offering a lichen
identification session on Saturday, August 27 we decided to check it out. These
sessions are run out of the Strathcona Wilderness Centre near Raven Lodge at the
Mt Washington Ski Area near Courtenay. We were joined by some friends from
Campbell River, George and Ellen Wagner and there were others in the group from
Parksville and Comox. Margaret Symon was the leader and said at the outset that
she was not a lichen expert but had done some research on lichens and was a
forester by training so could also point out various trees as we went along.
Margaret said that there were many different types of lichens and could be
classed into groups such as leaf, crusty, hair, club and several others.
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| Trying to identify a lichen |
We had not gone
very far down the trail when we came to our first lichens, which most people
know as old man’s beard. Margaret mentioned that this was likely “Usnea” and is
one of the hair type lichens. She mentioned that First Nations people used
different lichens for dyes for clothing and for compresses for cuts. Also birds
may use certain lichens for padding nests. We came across lots of different
types of lichen but many samples were very dried out from all the warm weather.
“Come back in a month and they will look quite different” Margaret told us. “Lichens
are also like canaries in the coalmine since they are very sensitive to various
types of pollution. They tend to grow in very specific environmental conditions”
she added.
These types of guided walks
are a perfect way to learn about the sub alpine environment of Strathcona
Provincial Park and the Strathcona Wilderness Institute should be congratulated
for putting on these informative walks. You can check out more of their offerings
at:
www.strathconapark.org
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| We also saw some Reindeer Lichen which eaten by caribou in many parts of the world |
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