Some of the many Lichen & Moss of Glengarriff Woods.

Ireland has long been famous for being a wet country, and our South West corner doesn't escape any of this rain. With all the surfaces being quite damp, a different habitat is created and some of those species thriving on damp ground, stone or wood, are Mosses, Lichen and Fungi. I've had a particular fondness for these extraordinary species, and once I started sketching and painting deserted buildings like sheds, barns and the like, I was brought into contact with Mosses and Lichen inadvertently. It is their structure which fascinates me. Just go and stop at a bridge, a wall, or a tree which is overgrown with Moss, and have a real good look at it.
Lichen too, deserves a second look, it is often even more bizarre in structure than the Moss, you've just looked at.

Being in Glengarriff Woodslast week, I had a good chance to look at all of these following species:
(see also this post at Birding on Wheels, my other blog.)

Everywhere I looked, there was Moss or Lichen present, I will try and find out their proper names via Paul Whelan's Lichen.ie website, and Clare Heardman, the manager of the reserve..
I have absolutely no idea of what the name is of this beautiful speciemen! Just draped along the branch, it seems.


In the website of the Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve, this Fern is mentioned, as,
Polypody+Fern+(Polypodium+vulgare.

So, you see, one species we got already! (to me it looks very parasitic, growing on other lifeforms.)
I presume that a little spring, or waterfall has been occupying this slit in the past?

Also wonder which specie of "Thorn" this one belongs too. Not Blackthorn, nor Hawthorn either, I think. Looks damn sharp though!

Wood Anemones were in flower all over the floor of the woods, Their little heads bobbing in the cold wind, .






It was noyt all Moss, Fungi and Lichen, of course. It was also scattered with spring flowers, like these Wood Sorrel and Primroses.


When we stopped for a minute, Dave pointed out these Fungi, growing on wood (I think)