Tuesday 28 June 2011

ABC Wednesday - Xylogenous

We have reached the tricky letter X for this week's ABC Wednesday so its a browse through the short dictionary entry, and the result - Xylogenous, a biological term for growing on wood.   The fungi growing on this tree is the wonderfully named Dryad's Saddle, named after those mythical tree nymphs the Dryads, who it would seem were just the right size to ride one of these.   The Dryad's Saddle (Polyporus squamosus) is edible but not recommended when it gets to this size.  As the guide says soft at first then tough.  It tiers on trunks of living or dead trees, especially elm or sycamore.
The other grower on wood, lichen, on a fence pole pictured on a snowy day.  A long hard winter like the one that is now long behind us is sometimes called a Blackthorn Winter
and every branch of this Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) bush if not covered with moss is covered with the shrubby Ramalina farinacea lichen.  It must be a very old bush but is always laden with sloe berries in autumn. In fact my last lot of Sloe Gin was made from this tree, and the end result was eXcellent.

eXit to ABC Wednesday where there are lots more words starting with X

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12 comments:

Rajesh said...

Very interesting choice and nice shots.

Sylvia K said...

Such an interesting post for the X Day! And I get to learn something new! Hope your week is going well! Enjoy!

Sylvia
ABC Team

Roger Owen Green said...

yes, it's going to be yellow or wood or Xavier or cheating like I did!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Wanda said...

Oh my, what interesting mushrooms.

Beautiful texture and color.

Reader Wil said...

You are also very clever to find an appropriate X-word, which is not easy at all. Have a great week!

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

So, THAT'S why it's called sloe gin!! I always wondered why. Wow-what a specimen to start this post off with too-it looks 'ginormous'!

VioletSky said...

Wow. I am eXtremely impressed with your word of the week!

Meryl said...

Great shots and neat take on "X"

Hildred said...

An interesting post, and very informative. Dryads Saddle is a very imaginative name for these organisms.

Cildemer said...

Great choice for X day! Bravo!
The firs pic is so beautiful!
Thanks for sharing;o)

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Hope you are having a nice and happy day****

Jane and Chris said...

They say that you should learn something new every day...I just did. Thank you!
Jane x

Tumblewords: said...

I love this post - the first photo looks like a sculpture and the lichen are particularly lovely.