Klara Scharnagl is the Tucker Curator at Jepson Herbarium. So exciting to have lichenologists now in so many western herbaria! And many thanks to Shirley Tucker, who funds some of them.

I wanted to share this poem by Klara that describes my feelings so well.

The Lichenarium

A poem by Klara Scharnagl

Thank you to all the places,

That, knowingly or not, allowed

Explorer’s trespass, whose eyes caught,

While notes were furiously scribbled,

Their cryptic quarry.

The scraping of field knives

The hammering of chisels

The folding of paper packets at dusk

Against the backdrop of frog and insect chorus

Thank you to the border crossing

That stopped plants, soil, dung, blood

But not the lichens - 

Air dried, considered benign

Now safe in their cool dark cabinets

Thank you to the rocks and trees

The many substrates that supported

These strange creatures

Then, chipped and hewn,

To collect the stories of

The place that once had been

Thanks to the signposts, recipes, lore

Thanks to remaining mostly overlooked

But to those who stopped to notice

To, with hand lenses, illuminate

Thanks to all who came before

Who sought to understand

These tough yet brittle forms

These mysteries symbiotic

To those forms most wonderful

And those more deeply hidden

To your ponderful slow growth

And to your medicine

The weaving of the hyphae

The photosynthesis

The lichen as a landscape

And all who dwell within

Behold the Lichenarium

And the lichens waiting there

Of your names and of your stories

We will take the utmost care

Before we step into this library

We take pause our thanks to give

To all that are of lichens

That once did, and now still, live.