The new species of horsehair lichen will be called Bryoria kockiana for Henry Kock, former interpretive horticulturist at the U of G Arboretum and a leading authority on native woody plants. He died in 2005 of brain cancer. His wife, Anne Hansen, purchased the scientific naming rights to the lichen this week.
She will name the lichen after her deceased husband, Henry Kock, horticulturist and author of Growing Trees from Seed (Firefly Books Ltd, 2008). The book was completed by his botanical colleagues after his death. Kock (pronounced “Coke”) was the public face of the Arboretum at the University of Guelph for 20 years. He died of brain cancer on December 25, 2005. Hansen moved from Ontario to BC in 2007.
As a taxonomist, I'm also delighted if my work can in some way help to preserve critical habitats for the organisms I study. As this is a first trial run of taxonomic tithing in Canada, I accept that it will take time for Canadians really to get behind this new method of conservation fund raising.
There are species named after famous people: Strigiphilus garylarsoni is a louse named after the cartoonist Gary Larson.
Diverse mosses, licorice ferns and lobaria “lettuce” lichens and more fauna grows on the trees in Mossy Maple. According to Wu, Mossy Maple hosts more plants growing on trees than any other trees in North America. The area is also home to bears, cougars, elk and a host of other wildlife.
"I can't help but think it would be the perfect Christmas present," said MacKinnon, coauthor of The Plants of Coastal B.C., which has sold 300,000 copies and is described as the Bible of B.C. botany.
"I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'A lichen is forever,' " he said.
Time is running out to have a treasured name live on in a lichen species. The contest to name two new species of lichen found in British Columbia’s rainforests closes December 15, so get brainstorming and start bidding!
Join the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group's (HTG) Robert Morales for a presentation about the Hul'qumi'num's fight to sustain their culture, their land and their human rights against the large scale clearcutting and development on their unceded territories.
Time: 7:00-8:30 PM
Date: TONIGHT! Tuesday, Dec.13 th
Location: Garry Oak Room – Fairfield Community Association
A public auction for the naming rights to a recently discovered species of lichen in British Columbia’s temperate rainforest will close at 3 pm EST on Thursday, December 15. The new species was discovered by botanical researcher Trevor Goward, the curator of lichens at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia. Funds from the highest bidder will benefit the Ancient Forest Alliance!
Two "name that lichen" auctions organized by Upper Clearwater naturalist Trevor Goward will end on Thursday, Dec. 15. "It's been almost three centuries since Carolus Linnaeus invented the modern biological classification system; and even now the names of the people he honored in the name of various plants and animals are still with us," said Goward. "With any luck, your name will last at least as long as Canada does."
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