rhsh's Favorites

I learned the rhyme "Sedges have edges, Rushes are round, Grasses have nodes all the way to the ground" (most of the time): joint-like nodes (where the leaf sheath ends) are found along round, hollow grass stems, stems of sedges & rushes are solid; in cross-section the stems of rushes are round, sedges are triangular (giving them edges, but they have no nodes, & triangular-stem sedges have 3-ranked leaves, leaves arranged on all 3 sides of the stem; like sedges, rush stems also have no nodes)... common names (some of the time) can confuse: Broomsedge is a grass, not a sedge; Bulrush and Woolgrass are sedges, not a rush, nor a grass

I like the neat rhyme "Sedges have edges, Rushes are round, Grasses have nodes all the way to the ground" (most of the time): joint-like nodes (where the leaf sheath ends) are found along round, hollow grass stems, stems of sedges & rushes are solid; in cross-section the stems of rushes are round, sedges are triangular (giving them edges, but they have no nodes, & triangular-stem sedges have 3-ranked leaves, leaves arranged on all 3 sides of the stem; like sedges, rush stems also have no nodes)... common names (some of the time) can confuse: Broomsedge is a grass, not a sedge; Bulrush and Woolgrass are sedges, not a rush, nor a grass

For the adjacent Dryad's Saddle (Cerioporus squamosus), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/206307078 & inaturalist.org/observations/206329227

For the Trametes aesculi, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/206308145

For the adjacent Dryad's Saddle (Cerioporus squamosus), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/206329227 & inaturalist.org/observations/206329215

For the Trametes aesculi, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/206308145

On a sweetgum seedball in muddy leaf litter; differentiating characteristics, many thanks to @pycnoporus: color and geography, plus N. niveotomentosa has white hairs, not orange, a west coast distribution, and brown periodoles (eggs), while the periodoles of C. laeve are white (not visible here in my images)

First photo close-cropped, then full size, same for the rest of the photos
For the Bacidia suffusa lichen, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137676
For the Ant-like Longhorn Beetle (Cyrtophorus verrucosus), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137684

Confidence to Suggest thanks to @mhodges1957, Notes adapted, thanks to @bertharris: On a slender snag, the young tree barely still standing, near where a small stream feeds into Sugar Creek; thallus mint green and lumpy; beautiful huge (slightly) purplish lecideine apothecia that start plane and heavily pruinose but end up convex and slightly or not pruinose; 1st photo close-cropped, then full size, same for 2nd photo (admittedly where I found this after I got home, the internet was down, & studied photo perimeters as I couldn't upload)
For the other lichen, the Ciliate Wreath (Phaeophyscia ciliata), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137667
For the big Ant-like Longhorn Beetle (Cyrtophorus verrucosus), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137684
For nearby Bacidia suffusa I went looking for and found lots, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205421248 and inaturalist.org/observations/205458504

For the Ciliate Wreath (Phaeophyscia ciliata) lichen, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137667
For the Bacidia suffusa lichen, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137676
An adjacent Ant-like Longhorn Beetle (Cyrtophorus verrucosus), cf. inaturalist.org/observations/205137690

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) 3 more consecutive visits to same log, cf. inaturalist.org/observations/153675690, inaturalist.org/observations/153814996, & inaturalist.org/observations/153817731