FIELD TRIPS OF THE CLUB 



Wawayanda Cedar Swamp, New Jersey, 



December 2, 1934 



A party of ten members and guests visited the white cedar 

 swamp on the Wawayanda plateau in New Jersey in search of 

 mosses and lichens on December 2. A light rain the previous 

 evening had brought these plants to their full freshness and they 

 appeared in abundance. 



The "hieroglyphics" lichens, Graphis scripta and G. recta 

 were very common. The latter was found on birch and has the 

 fruit or apothecia more or less parallel to the lenticels of the 

 bark. A light gray crust on tree trunks was identified as Pertu- 

 saria communis with two to several apothecia sunken in the 

 warts on the surface. A similar species, but with a zonate mar- 

 gin, was Pertusaria velata. Buellia myriocarpa was common as a 

 green crust with small black apothecia on trees. Among the 

 lichens, however, a rare find was Calicium polyporeum. This 

 parasite on the common Polystictus versicolor has no visible 

 thallus and its fruit appears as rows of tiny "nails" on the upper 

 surface of the fungus bracket. 



Parmelias were very common in the vicinity; Parmelia con- 

 spersa, P. rudecta, P. caperata and P. physodes being seen. Other 

 foliose lichens seen were Cetraria atlantica and Nephromopsis 

 ciliaris, which is similar but has cilia along the margin. Cla- 

 donias were in fine shape and robust colonies of Cladonia crista- 

 tella, C. chlorophaea and C. bacillaris were seen. A few plants of 

 the Cladonia rangiferina, C. furcata and C. verticillata were 

 found on the higher ground outside the swamp. 



The moss Georgia pellucida was abundant and had both cap- 

 sules and gemma cups present in numbers. In its characteristic 

 location at the bases of trees, the common Thelia hirtella, with 

 whitish peristome, was discovered. A few capsules of that un- 

 usual and most attractive moss, Buxbaumia aphylla, were found 

 by members of the party. When fresh the capsule is a light trans- 

 lucent green and the peristome and stalk are a shining chestnut 

 brown. The plant is usually found on a bare spot of soil and the 

 practically leafless stalk springs from the persistent protonema 

 which is dark green and easily recognized by the initiate. Al- 



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