‘British soldiers’ at Ardroe
One of the joys about winter walks in Assynt is that, with the dying-back of many ‘higher plants’, other forms of life, such as lichens, come into sharper focus.
A perfect way to illustrate the point is this colourful example of the large genus Cladonia. Some sixty species are known to occur in the British Isles and at least a third of that number in Assynt. According to their form they are variously known as ‘reindeer moss’ or ‘pixie cups’. A sub-set of the latter, with bright red ‘fruits’ (properly apothecia), is referred to as ‘British soldiers’.
This specimen was spotted on the exposed peat of an old tree-planting hole at Ardroe (NC0622). It was later identified as an example of the widespread heathland species Cladonia diversa. It was only a few centimetres across, but stood out against the dark peat and had a jewel-like quality close-up.
Ian Evans