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October 9, 2005 : Rhizocarpon geographicum

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Keywords: Rhizocarpaceae | Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC | Hope Slide

Rhizocarpon geographicum

Yellow map or world map lichen is frequently used in lichenometry, a geobotanical technique employed to estimate the age of exposure of a rock surface. Since Rhizocarpon geographicum quickly colonizes newly-exposed rock surfaces and has a known rate of growth, geologists can, for example, examine glacially-deposited rocks and determine the rate of glacial retreat. For an excellent introduction to lichenometry, read Lichens, Lichenometry and Global Warming (PDF), a short and well-illustrated paper by Richard Aston in the September 2004 issue of “Microbiologist”.

Photography resource link: Photographer and writer Freeman Patterson. To see a sampling of his photographs, click on Prints. Use the small vertical grey bars to access different albums of his images.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at October 9, 2005 3:54 AM

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Comments

Thanks for the intoduction to so many new plants. It is a marvelous world we line in.

Posted by: Patricia at October 10, 2005 10:39 AM

Patricia, it is indeed. I forgot to mention the scale of this photograph - it's roughly 5cm top to bottom.

Posted by: Daniel Mosquin Author Profile Page at October 11, 2005 12:11 AM

Wonderful... My first blog browsing and I find a lichen photo! Good job Daniel, thanks!

Posted by: Sally at October 15, 2005 9:32 AM

Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!

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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.