Off the wall

In the National Trust Batch Valley car park there is a culvert where the stream runs through. The wall of this culvert is covered with all sorts of interesting organisms and it is a couple of those I was looking at today.

The first species took me a little while to identify. it was when I turned over the leaves and worked out that I should be looking amongst the ferns that the answer became clear. This is Wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria).

Wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria)

This small tufted fern is quite a common and widespread species, and a very subtle but beautiful one.

Wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria)

Also on the wall there are large patches of the orange organism. From a distance is it something that you may consider is a fungi or a lichen, but when you look up close you are not so sure and when you feel it there is a very soft and almost furry texture.

Trentepohlia aurea

I believe that this is actually a green algae Trentapohlia aurea. This free-living algae is certainly a distinctive species and something needing a bit more investigation to make sure I have the right identifcation.

Trentepohlia aurea