Favoritos de michaelrudy

I thought it was a Collema at first glance, but it is not at all jelly like when wet. Thallus is greenish, very three dimensional, and appears squamulose and brainlike, but upon collection the squamules look more like wrinkled lobes at the end of branching, tree like growths more or less arising from a white central area. Collected in the Kananaskis area of Alberta from non-calcareous rocks at very high elevation.

Some parts of the sample have what look like misshapen black apothecia on top, but I haven't been able to sample any of them yet to confirm.

This record represents the third record of this species from SK, but it has not been reported since at least 1992 from the province and was thought to be extirpated. Effectively this is a confirmation that this orchid species still persists in SK.

White stripes, wide oculo-malar spaces, and rufous spot are diagnostic for this species.

This is an unusual observation of the species including a nest, as nests are almost never seen.

This is also quite a southerly record for a nest of this Arctic species.

This is a previously undiscovered seep of this globally imperiled moss, which is heavily threatened due to climate change and is known from only 19 sites in Canada.

Sample confirmed by Dr. Caners, Royal Alberta Museum.

Location obscured to protect the population.