phoebeandrews's Favorites

An historical oddity. Whilst renovating our "1929" Bungalow (which is in fact a 1918 Villa that was converted to a Bungalow in 1929) we unearthed some 'evidence' of the houses origins - these include former fence posts, battons etc. that had been used as nogs and for framing in the older parts of the house. These fence posts come complete with wire, staples and occasional lichens - all long dead but some of which can be identified, like this one, which is Xanthoparmelia scabrosa. Some research at the Auckland Museum revealed that houses built in Auckland toward the end of WWI had to contend with timber shortages (as much of the local milled timber had been taken for the war effort), so builders used whatever they could find, like old fence battens, posts, etc. So there you go. A dead lichen found on a fence post within the walls of my house. Top that lichenologists!