Not necessarily locally abundant, one of the rarest soil lichens here, but still at least 50 colonies in the area in multiple patches of exposed, dry prairie soil.
Sample collected!
On seepy metavolcanic rock face. Photobiont Nostoc. Lobes small and round in cross section. Surface areolate.
Криптоталлус удивительный - бесхлорофильный печёночник
At small clay cliff. This series of images probably shows four different individuals. The cliff is a very active nest site of Ancistrocerus sp. B (see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101059487 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101033928), the presumed host. Anthophora bomboides and perhaps occidentalis also nest there (see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/100907601).
Guess for now, will revisit more photos later. Growing on mossy old growth Acer macrophyllum branches.
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.
Very tiny: 2-3mm max, some individuals ~1mm. Growing on wet, silty soil
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.
ID confirmed, Dr. James Glasier. This is the first record of the species from SK.
Sample accessioned, Royal Alberta Museum.
Growing on shaded limestone rock ledge on top of thin layer of soil and moss in limestone crevices. Occurs in a mixed cyanobacterial and soil diatom community, but this observation is for the turquoise strands.
Growing on pink/whitish limestone. Spores appear to be either of two different types (one with easily visible and unique jigsaw-shaped septa, and the other with hard to see septa and intercellular speckling). Average spore sizes (n=8 each) are 15.7 x 3.8 μm (jigsaw septa) and 17.9 x 4.4 μm (opaque spores) for the two types.
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.