Winter Walk in the Woods, Folsom, Louisiana
I spent the morning after Christmas wandering in the woods, up in Folsom where we have a cabin on the property of Lagniappe Equestrian Center. Our cousin owns Lagniappe and so over the past 15 years, I've spent many hours exploring the 300 acres of wooded uplands and remnant long leaf pine habitat. It's a beautiful place - with meandering trails - surrounded by various pine species (loblolly, long leaf, slash), sweet gum, water oak and various shrubs. Because this is a disturbed habitat - horse farm pastures surrounded by densely wooded areas that have been left to nature's will - there is much to observe on any day in the woods or along the trails. There is lots of water typically found on the trails - puddles formed after big rains - which can be miserable going in the warming spring in terms of mosquitos, biting flies, and gnats. But on a warmish winter morning, it was lovely to walk along - with the dogs running ahead, noses to the ground - making all kinds of scent discoveries.
Along the trails the trees may not have been in bloom - as it's winter - but their bark told a different story. I noticed beautiful green shield lichen splaying out along the various barks of smooth sweet gum trees to the craggy and pitted bark of the older oak trees. Lichen is a fascinating thing - actually a combination of things. It is the symbiotic relationship between algae and fungi. The algae within lichen tend to be green balls which will make the food through sunlight to feed the fungi. This relationship is an example of mutualism in which both organisms benefit from the partnership. This relationship enables each to tolerate harsh conditions where neither could survive otherwise.
There are about 17,000 species of lichen and are found worldwide. They are a diverse group of organisms that can colonize a wide range of surfaces and are frequently found on tree bark, exposed rock and as part of a biological soil crust. Lichens have been used as food for humans and as sources of medicine and dye for hundreds of years. Caribou and reindeer rely on lichens as their main source of food.
When looking back at my photos from my forays into the woods, I realize that I've been studying lichens for years - unknowingly. I have found so many pictures of these lovely organisms - even though I didn't really know what they were or what their story was. I have pictures of Bristly beard lichen, pixie cup lichens, and shield lichens. So I will continue to explore these woods and the unique things that live there.
