lace lichen (a natural list, no. 13)

perhaps the most beautiful thing eaten by mule deer

You’re reading a natural list, a series in which I (an amateur naturalist) share three delightful things every other week about an animal, plant, or fungus native to California along with an original illustration. It’s by no means an exhaustive list of delightful things, but it’s a start.

This series was inspired by the common tradition of naturalists keeping “life lists” that document the species they’ve seen throughout their lifetimes, and it’ll run as long as it takes to get through every California native species (which is to say, buckle in, because there are over 6,500 plants alone).