Mosses and Lichens of the Garry Oaks Ecosystem Between Dolphin and Enos Lakes
November 24, 2006
Hans Laue
Photos by John MacKenzie and Jim Sinclair
It had been raining more or less all week, but on the day of the outing the weather calmed and we actually had some blue sky. The mosses and lichens were in top condition, fresh and luxuriant, because of the considerable amount of precipitation throughout November. The walk went to the sensitive Garry oaks ecosystem between Dolphin and Enos Lakes and ended up at the Lookout. The first impression one has of mosses and lichens is of a diversity of colors and textures. Our expert guide, Kent Anders, named many of the species and pointed out their characteristics.
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It soon became apparent that the identification of mosses and lichens can be even more difficult than that of, say, shorebirds and that there are way more of the former than of the latter on Vancouver Island. The walk stimulated us to return on our own armed with a field guide to identify a few members of this different world. Observing mosses and lichens has the advantage over observing birds that the objects hold still and can be examined at close range. Optical equipment is useful here too. Instead of a pair of binoculars one needs a magnifying glass.
The group, 19 people in total, met at the Fairwinds Recreation Centre at 9:30 am and drove up the new Bonnington Road to the top. From there it was a short walk on the rough-cut up to the sensitive ecosystem. The cut is currently being reclaimed by some interesting plants like these orange fairy cup mushrooms.
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The mosses and lichens we saw included Kindbergia oregana, Selaginella wallacei, Polytrichum juniperinum, a kind of Racomitrium, Cladina portentosa, Usnea wirthii, a kind of Dicranum, and a kind of Peltigera. You may want to try identifying one or the other of these on the following pictures.
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Kent recommended “Plants of Coastal British Columbia” by J. Pojar and A. MacKinnon as a guide on the subject. He also gave us a sheet on how to distinguish among mosses, liverworts, lichens, and club mosses.
Although mosses and lichens (and ferns on the side) were the target of this outing, the birders among us couldn’t help notice some 300 American Robins taking flight and 6 Cedar Waxwings bathing in a rock pool near the top.
The walk finished around 11:45 am.