Vishnu and Kerry Heise led 18 participants, who came from as far as Santa Clara, in pursuit of specimens to either identify in situ or to gather for an afternoon session using dichotomous keys and microscopes. The group began with a short excursion to the north side of Panther Rock, a large outcrop draped in a lush cover of bryophytes, spike mosses, and ferns lying at 1,100 ft. Along the way yellowish-green foliose lichens (Xanthoparmelia), orange crustose lichens (Caloplaca), and brownish Umbilicaria phaea were observed growing on sunny rocks along with the mosses Pseudobraunia californica, Grimmia laevigata, and the grey-green Hedwigia detonsa with its prominent broad white hair points. Common epiphytic lichens growing on branches of blue oak included Evernia prunastri, Flavopunctelia flaventior, Parmelia sulcata, Pseudocyphellaria anthraspis, Ramalina farinacea, R. menziesii, and Usnea arizonica, while the main trunks were festooned with mosses such as the feather-like Dendroalsia abietina, yellow-green mats of Antitrichia californica, and the yellowish snake-like runners of Homalothecium nuttallii. The north side of Panther Rock is a verdant wall rich in plant life where a mosaic of green hues hinted at the diversity of mosses and vascular plants that grow here. Some of the more conspicuous species were the fuzzy red-stemmed Anacolia menziesii, interspersed with Grimmia trichophylla, Homalothecium arenarium, the hairy-cap Polytrichum juniperinum, and the spike-moss, Selaginella wallacei.
Next, the group drove upwards into dense, cloudy conditions finally arriving at a unique serpentine scrub area at 2,650 ft. Here an interesting elfin forest of MacNab cypress and manzanita offered the perfect substrate for a variety of lichens not seen lower down in the Panther Rock area. Some of the more eye-catching ones included the olive-green Kaernefeltia merrillii, the closely related Tuckermannopsis orbata, the beautiful isidiate-margined Platismatia herrei, and the bone white, divaricately-branched Hypogymnia tubulosa. The most common epiphytic moss at this site was the dark green Orthothricum lyallii, with its short-stalked capsules, deeply immersed within the leaf axils. Altogether 20 lichen and a similar number of moss species were identified (with the new list additions of Ramalina subleptocarpha and Platismatia herrei). In terms of lichens, the serpentine site produced the more varied & interesting taxa.