Saravanan: Indigenous Organisms in Different Kingdoms

Plantae

Solanum nigrum
42.151007, -71.383110

If you look closely, you will see the characteristic flowers. I am absolutely certain this is Solanum nigrum, despite the eaten-ness of the plant; I weeded a patch of these earlier this year, and the larger plants had the characteristic unripe green berries, and ripe black ones. I also used to be obsessed with this species, until I knew to be afraid of it (I will never see potatoes and their kin as benign again). I then realised that I didn't actually have a photo of this species, and went on a hunt to find one. Alas, the only remaining specimen I could find was heavily damaged.

Animalia
Bufo fowleri
42.1509.87, -71.383077

I've found three of these toads this summer alone.

Protista
Chondrus crispus
42.155442, -71.460209

Also known as, "Irish moss," this rhodophyte is common in the coastal benthic zone of the northern Atlantic Ocean. It's not really a moss, but that's no surprise: another common type of 'moss' isn't really a moss at all. Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish moss, is a bromeliad I would like to cultivate.


Fungi
Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae
42.150973, -71.383155

The strange, berry-like object visible in the center of the image is actually a cedar gall. This gall is formed around the fruiting body of cedar-apple rust. Years ago, when the crab apple tree had not been reduced to a cluster of suckers, many galls like this one would open up, and strange, orange, jelly-like protrusions would extend from the pores. It was disgusting. The fungus is dormant now, but it's still there: the remaining portion of the apple tree is sending out suckers, which show the apple rust pattern. 

Bacteria

Lactobacillus delbrueckii

42.152007, -71.383108 

This is a yogurt bacterium. This bacterium was obtained by leaving out some milk that I pasteurized and then poured into a cup. Without a microscope, I believe that this is Lactobacillus delbrueckii, but I do not know which regional subspecies it is. A bowl of home-made yogurt obtained from a culture was present in the same room, but I think it's unlikely that many endospores would have formed if at all, and so this species was not likely air-born. I wouldn't eat this yogurt.

 But, just to make it more likely that I get the credit:

Bacteria

Spirulina sp.

42.151005, -71.383108

I do not know the species, and Spirulina is already a confusing genus due to the reclassification of several species into another genus. I am certain that this is a culture of Spirulina. I added sodium bicarbonate to an algaculture medium composed of various fertilizers, amino acids, and vitamins. The pH tested to approximately 9.4, which excludes most other types of algae, and favors growth of Spirulina.

Fungi

Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae
42.150999, -71.383090

This is the apple-rust phase of its life cycle. I grew this crab apple sapling from an infected meristem taken from inadvertently coppiced tree.