This was growing up by the croft we stayed in on the south side of Loch Broom at about 140m above sea level (it felt higher walking up to it!). It's Polypodium vulgare or common polypody, one of our commonest pteridophytes. The underside shows the sori which develop on fertile fronds. They contain the spores and are not covered by a membrane called an indusium which is found in other ferns.
They are called polypody on account of growing from rhizomes which have lots (poly) of apparent feet (pody). They are found growing on walls (like this) and in banks, as well as on trees as epiphytes.
This is a famous lichen: Lobaria pulmonaria. It's famous because it used to be widespread but was wiped out by air polution, to which it is very sensitive. Once gone it takes a long time to recolonise so it remains confined to areas which have always had good air quality. It is usually found on deciduous trees such as (in this case) oak and when found is considered an ancient woodland indicator.
It used to be collected in huge quantities and used to treat diseases of the lungs (the old Doctrine of Signatures). However it was also used for tanning and even as an alternative to hops for brewing beer!
I had to add this lichen as it is very pretty. It's definitely a Cladonia genus member and I'm pretty sure it's Cladonia humilis. I'll see if I can get that confirmed by a grown-up.
I did try to post using the Blogger app on my phone, but for some reason it kept refusing to actually publish the posts. Very frustrating.
So here are three species to cover the 1st February to today. I'll do a separate post of each one.
The first one was the mountain hare, or Lepus timidus. We saw a couple of these on our way up Ben Mor on the 1st February. Needless to say I didn't manage to get a good close up with my phone. The clue is in the species name. Even the two dogs didn't manage to get close to them.
This is a picture of near where we saw them. Amazing place to choose as one's ecological niche!
Other names include blue hare, alpine hare, Irish hare, snow hare.
You can tell them from the slightly larger brown hare because they always have a white tail.
