Ruby Tuesday: British Soldiers

This is my first entry in Ruby Tuesday, a neat photo meme from theteach at Work of the Poet. Every Tuesday, she posts a photo of something red and invites us all to come play along.

I really enjoyed doing Project Black, and I kind of miss it now that it's over. There's something about focusing on a particular color that makes one pay attention to the world in a new way. Even more interesting is that different colors lead to different places. I look forward to exploring Red for a while, and seeing what all the other participants find.

And so...

The vine growing on this old stump caught my attention, with its purple flowers and fruits that look like little Roma tomatoes. But look closer, and you'll find that the lichens growing on the wood itself have little red fruiting bodies, too.



A few minutes on Google helped me identify them as species Cladonia, A.K.A. "British Soldiers". Along the way, I learned a good deal about lichens in general. For example, did you know that lichens are really a symbiotic system, composed of fungi and algae or bacteria, all cooperating to form one organism?



The tallest of these is about a third of an inch high. And me without a tripod. Still, for a hand-held macro shot it came out pretty well, I think.