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Whatcom Watch
Life Before Flowers
Oct/Nov 2021
The Mycorrhizal Connection
Fall has arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and many people turn their attentions to searching for certain species of mushrooms that show up this time of year in our woods, fields and gardens. Mushrooms are just the visible indication “fruiting” … Continue reading
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July 2021
Plasmodial Slime Molds Are Not Molds
What’s in a name? That which we call a [slime mold] By any other name would [look] as sweet. Of all the cryptogams (plant-like life forms that produce spores), perhaps the slime molds are the least well known. Like the … Continue reading
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March 2021
A Tale of Two Lichens
• It was the best of habitats and there was Lobaria pulmonaria. • It was the worst of habitats and there was Hypogymnia physodes. Wouldn’t you like to easily tell how good the air you breathe is? Knowing your lichens allows you … Continue reading
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August 2020
It Takes Two to Tango
Perhaps there is no other group of plants that typifies the Pacific Northwest west-of-the-Cascades forests more than the bryophytes. It is these simple plants that give our temperate rain forests their distinctive, green, sodden look. These spore-producing plants include the … Continue reading
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May 2020
Whatcom County Morels
Springtime turns a mycologist’s attention to morels, one of the most desirable of edible fungi. If you want lots of morels, go east of the mountains (see below). Our choices in the western part of the county are limited and … Continue reading
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June 2019
Usnea quasirigida Is Spreading South
This column will be an occasional one. The plan is to review some of the organisms that fall into the general category of “cryptogam” (Greek for “hidden marriage,” referring to their microscopic reproductive cells). The cryptogams include some plants (ferns … Continue reading
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