As I walk up the trail, a maple stands lost among the other trees in the forest. For no particular reason, I head in its direction.
With each step, it fills more of my field of view until I must crane my neck up and down to see from its base to its crown. Walking still closer, I am lost under the branches of its leafless canopy. A body's length away, I can see the wrinkles and folds of its aging bark. At arms length, it appears as if someone has splattered gray mud on the side of the tree.
Moving as close as I can to the trunk of the tree -- my nose almost touching the bark as I try to focus my hand lens, I find that the mud is not mud at all. Black, squiggly lines reveal that what I thought was mud, is actually Script Lichen (Graphis scripta) or Secret Writing Lichen.
What other wonderful worlds would I have found if I had chosen a different tree? Or, if I had looked 5 or 6 inches to the right or left?
[A special thanks to Christian Schorn of the UVM Field Naturalist Program who introduced me to this lichen on a recent field walk. And, to Sean Beckett of the North Branch Nature Center who taught me how to take a really close up picture using my field lens and iPhone.]
