Among the many natural history tasks on my to-do is this one: learn the lichens. It's actually been there for a long time, and though I actually possess the masterwork required to begin the task—that would be the exquisite Sharnoff and Brodo tome, Lichens of North America—I haven't, mea culpa, made a lot of progress. In part this is due to, alas, a certain amount of laziness, but another more valid reason is because, to crib from that great naturalist Barbie, lichens are hard. A good part of the identification process involves documenting their reaction to all sorts of different chemicals. Bleach and Liquid Plumber are certainly common, but there are a fair number of other important molecules that are not routinely found in most households. Of course, some of the lichens are easy enough to put into a genus cubbyhole without a chemistry set. This is one: a member of the Cladonia congregation, many of whose 120-plus North American representatives bear characteristic splash cups, or, if you will, mini-goblets for mini-fairies to drink from.