Join us on January 29th for a fascinating journey into the winter world of ferns, lichens, and fungi. Discover the resilient beauty of ferns braving the cold, the vibrant lichens thriving in cemeteries, and the surprising appearances of winter fungi. This article will reveal the hidden wonders of these often-overlooked organisms and their unique adaptations to survive the harsh winter months. Don't miss out on this captivating exploration of nature's winter secrets!
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Ferns
Bracken Pteridium aquilinum is now looking quite dead, but still retains its handsome deep russet colour. Many other wild ferns are looking fresher and some may even be producing their dusty spores from the underside of their leaves e.g. the heart’s tongue fern Phyllitis scolopendrium and Polypody Polypodium vulgare. In damp woods the large, open bright green fronds of the Broad Buckler fern Dryopteris austriaca stand out set high on their rootstocks, although the fronds of the male fern Dryopteris felix-mas are much more common.
A wider range of other ferns are to be found in gardens some braving the elements better than others. Nowadays there are few places to see outdoor collections, although a collection of hardy ferns can be enjoyed at the Savill gardens including an impressive evergreen species from the West Indian, Blechnum tabulare. It was during the Victorian period that many different varieties of fern were planted en masse in rockeries and in miniature ravines, but virtually none of these survive and such garden practice is currently very much out of fashion.
However, some interesting varieties of our wild ferns can still be seen in the Chelsea Physic garden e.g. the ‘Plumosum’ variety of the soft shield fern and the namo-cristatum variety of the harts tongue fern. Other interesting hardy ferns there include the shuttle-cock shaped Dryopteris cycadina from Japan and Woodwardia unigemmata from the Himalayas which can grow up to ten feet in height. Not for the faint-hearted but the tiniest of young ferns can be found this month perhaps just one or two mm high. They grow out of tiny heart-shaped structures (prothalli) where a fern sperm has reached a fern egg. They are not easy to find where other ferns are growing but do occasionally occur in numbers such as at the bases of wet Molinia grass clumps in the boggy area below Jack Straws Castle on Hampstead heath.
Lichens
About one half of London’s lichens are found in cemeteries, even the quite central Brompton Cemetery having some unusual species. Churchyards are among the best hunting grounds where the tombstones provide a range of different substrates, fitting the various requirements of different species. Also birds often perch on tombstones leaving their nitrogen-rich droppings which then encourages even more species. Mickleham churchyard, near Box Hill, is particularly rich, having dozens of species and St Andrew’s Totteridge has over twenty.
Churchyards are good places to get to know some of London’s most common lichens especially those with different colour that are so noticeable on tombs and headstones. Invariably these seem to be orange discs of which Xanthoria parietina is one of the most common and eye-catching. West Norwood cemetery has three more Xanthoria spp. X. calcicola which tends to be a deeper orange, X. candelaria a darker orange or a yellow-orange and X. Polycarpa which varies from grey to yellow-orange.
Other orange lichens that are common are the Caloplacas especially Caloplaca citrina which can vary from bright orange to a greenish-yellow. Kensal Green cemetery is good for them, hosting four more species, C. flavescens and C. flavocitrina which are both orange, C. decipiens which varies from light yellow to brownish-orange and C. tiecholyta which varies from white to a bluish-grey.
Candelariellas stand out due to some of them looking like scattered mustard powder. Candelariella aurella is probably the most common along with C. vitellina, but two more can be found in Brompton cemetery C. medians and C. reflexa which are more of a true yellow rather than mustard. Lecanora spp. are also common but less noticeable due to their grey or pearly colouring. They also can just look like powder covering the surface of a headstone. Lecanora dispersa is probably the most common. It is either a very light grey or white. L. albescens is pure white, L. campestris and L. compallens are both grey and L. muralis and L. conizaeoides are more of a greenish-grey. All of these can be found in Nunhead cemetery.
Physcia spp. are also grey but look like tiny flattened grey seaweeds with slightly raised edges or lobes. Physcia adscendens, one of the most common species, is loosely attached to tombstones with slightly hooded lobes and marginal bristles. P. caesia is a handsome bluish matt grey but more attached to the stone it sits on. P. tenella is very like P. adscendens but the ends of its lobes are more turned back revealing a creamy colour. All three of these lichens can be found in Abney Park cemetery.
One of the first things you usually notice when entering God’s acre are tombstones that look as if they have been splashed with white or grey paint or even tar, perhaps all three. These are often species of Verrucaria which, like so many other lichens, are notoriously difficult to identify to species. There are six in Highgate cemetery. Verrucaria nigrescens, which is usually black but can be chocolate-brown; it can even look cracked like old dried paint. V. elaeina is usually white, V. baldensis the palest grey, V. gloucina lead grey, V. hochstetteri a greyish-brown or greyish-red and V. macrostoma more of a tan or olive green. These colours are more of a pointer as many lichens not only exist in different colour forms but also can change colour when wet or in shady conditions.
Among the most attractive lichens are the Peltigera spp. which includes the dog lichen P. membranacea. At the edge of its thalli, where they curl upwards, white threads hang down. In the past these were thought to look like teeth. According to the old belief of Doctrine of Signatures, plants give some visual indication as to what they might be useful for medicinally. Consequently, it was decided long ago this particular lichen was a good cure for rabies. Two species Peltigera didactyla and P. lactucifolia can be found in West Norwood cemetery.
Esher Common has a very impressive species list, including lichens which look like dried seaweeds. Peltigera didactyla is particularly common. The fairy club lichens Cladonia spp. are regarded by many as the most attractive of all with their sealing wax red tips at the end of small green powdered stems. These take more finding, being confined to the acid heaths of south-west London e.g. Chobham common.
Fungi
Fungi are not much in evidence this month, except for old decaying brackets on trees. Those that sometimes make a brief appearance include Sulphur Tuft, Tripe Fungus, Herald of the woods, Velvet shank, Coral spot and the Oyster mushroom.
There will be several others if the month is a mild one, especially on rotting wood. One edible species that can be quite common is Jew’s ear Auricularia auricula-judae. Although usually found on elder it can also often be found on old dead sycamores in our area. It has been ignored in the past but is now popular among the Chinese community who appreciate its smooth texture and rubbery consistency in stir-fries and soups. The similar-looking and closely related wood ear A. cornea can be found dried on sale in Chinese supermarkets. It has been suggested the English name, which has caused offence, should be changed to jelly ear as it is one of the jelly fungi. However, the folklore connection is to Judas Iscariot who was thought to have hung himself on an elder tree leaving just his ‘ears’ to remind us of his fate.
Much more noticeable than the fungi on the woodland floor are the Witches’ Brooms on birch trees. These look like round, tangled masses of deformed twigs sporadically along the branches. They are caused by a fungus Taphrina turgida on the Silver Birch and by T. betulina on the Downy Birch. Witches’ broom was believed to be the place where witches spontaneously generated themselves.
