There's not been a whole lot of time at this end of the semester to do any research - not of the kind that involves books, or even on line sources. But that doesn't stop me admiring the bright green lichenous growth on these trees around campus. It's one of those phenomena where the moss at the trunk's base shades into the lichen above, creating an indeterminate boundary when it comes to color, if not to texture. Both speak, of course, to how damp it's been. This is a leprous lichen, meaning that it's a very basic type indeed - powdery, rather than leaf like (and, I might add, very useful to Victorian artists, since they didn't have to put too much care into observing botanical details when painting it - consider William Weekes' ridiculous An Unwanted Guest.
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