Feb 2020
We have started a monthly bryophyte group in Menifee at the San Jacinto Collage biology lab. This is free and open to all beginner to advanced. Lab has microscopes and tools available for bryophyte identification. Every first friday of every month.

March 6th, Next meeting will have an 'Introduction to Bryophytes presentation' which will include the most common mosses of Southern California. We will then get into keying these mosses.

Everyone in the group also discussed working on lichens as well. so we are opening this group up to "bryophytes and lichens" but beginning with the study of bryophytes.

We will attempt education speakers and help to id available. If your Interested in more information or would like to sign up contact me at Chris Wagner, mossgeek@yahoo.com or here on INaturalist (mossgeek).

Field suggestions;
-keep a small spray bottle to hydrate lichens. I always take pics of dry and hydrated when i can.

-Note the habitat. Some lichens are limited to rock/boulders while others are limited to tree trunks and branches. some lichens do not care about substrate. Habitat and substrate also helps to identify to species.

-If there are several species, focus pictures on one species at a time. This way when identifying it we can identify one species within the photos.

A great word of advice i got from my bryologist and lichenologist mentors is to put an identification to it even if you dont know it is correct. This way you are paying more attention to the characteristics and when you do get the correction and correct, you will remember these characteristics. Putting a close name is better then no name, or at least to genus and or family.