Lichen what I see

Rock Tripe with ice formation.

Rock Tripe on PreCambrian rock of Eardley Escarpment

What a gorgeous afternoon for a snowshoe tramp through Spiritwood’s woodland trails! With temperatures of 6 degrees Celsius, we strapped on our snowshoes and headed out for an hour’s exploration. What did we see? Rock tripe.

Rock tripe is a member of the lichen genus Umbilicaria. They grow on rocks and have a leathery look, being khaki-to-green on their surface, and black underneath. Although they simply taste leathery to my palate, they are a known survival food.

What is a lichen? First of all, they are indicators of air quality, so it’s a good thing that tripe and other lichens flourish here at Spiritwood, along the southerly facing ridge of the Eardley Escarpment.

Secondly, lichens are not mosses... although they are related. Instead, according to London, England’s Natural History Museum, they represent a symbiotic relationship between two or more organisms: a fungus and an algae.

Here at Spiritwood, we have many lichens. Today we found several fully hydrated “fields” of rock tripe. In fact, they were swollen with from the snow and ice which today’s sunlight had transformed into meltwater.