I could tell the excitement between the lines of email words from Anthony. (They say 80-90% of expression is non verbal) He had visited the Pits and found a rare lichen. Anaptychia ciliaris. ‘A rapidly declining large foliose lichen found on well-lit and moderately nutrient enriched tree trunks, often high up on the trunk’.
It was on a relatively young oak, of no particular merit, in fact unbalanced, one sided being pushed by a Scots pine and Holm oak behind it. Anthony recommended that to the rarity of the lichen the Pits should do all they could to protect and encourage the straggling oak: Take down the pine behind, make clear the area around. The Pits could potentially receive funding for further lichen investigation.
“This lichen is indeed significant in both the Suffolk and national context. It’s a NERC Section 41 species (Section 42 relates to Wales, not England).  It’s also listed as a conservation priority species in the new 2025 Suffolk Local Nature Recovery Strategy…. Another reason, if one were needed, why it was important to protect Holton Pits from an open-market sale and likely development.”
Photographs here, with Rebecca and John and Antony.
They are such beautiful things to look at and photograph. Here are some very common lichen on a tree branch
Kaliwood 