Post Twenty
The nettles and elder growing here suggest the soil has high levels of the plant foods nitrate and phosphate.
Elder bears flowers in spring and dark berries in autumn. Its bark often supports lichens, which are made up of a fungus and an alga living together.
The alga is a plant so it can make sugars which are used by the fungus and help the lichen grow. Can you find any lichens? Look on thin twigs for the bright orange/yellow of Xanthoria parietina.
After windy weather look on larger fallen branches for different lichen species.
Two Lichens - Xanthoria Parientina and Parmelia
Continue on to Old Perry Street car park.
