Last week
has been warm, between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius, perfect weather for this
year’s inventory of Methuselah´s Beard Lichen. Not as heavy as work with a
chainsaw, but tiring anyway because several of the premises situated at the top
of steep mountains. 200-300 meters altitude climbing brings out one or two drop
of sweat.
Methusalah,
Old Man´s Beard, is lichen with
very long stems and short, even side branches. It is considered the longest
lichen in the world, (up to 10 meters long!) It is found in boreal forests and
coastal woodland in Europe, Asia, and North America. Methuselah is very rare in
Scandinavian forests nowadays. It requires old-growth forest, which is a rare
commodity in today’s production landscape. Our only protected lichen.
Many
lichens I have followed for 10 years now, they have become personal friends. They
are cozy patting on and are growing upwards 10 cm in length during a good year.
The border
between Sweden and Norway is marked by a wide street. At regular intervals, are boundary cairns of stone, painted yellow on the top. This is the cairn #
94, Älgklinten, erected in 1755. Älgklinten is one of our smallest lichen
premises.
Border
south!
