The one that looks like a tiny trumpet has a body that is pale greyish-green, with a slender stalk that rises from the ground and flares out into a small, trumpet-shaped cup at the top. The cups are usually 5 to 10 millimetres across, with a fringed or toothed margin. The margin is covered in tiny, finger-like projections (fimbriations) that give the species its name. It is the lichen of the waiting trumpet, the one that looks designed for something that never arrived, the one that seems to be listening for a sound that never comes. What makes it special is the fringe. Cladonia fimbriata is one of the most distinctive cup lichens in New Zealand. The margins of its cups are covered in a dense fringe of tiny, finger-like projections called fimbriations. These projections give the cup a ragged, fringed appearance, like a tiny crown or a piece of delicate lace. It is the lichen of the fringed cup, the one that looks like it is waiting for a tiny king to sit on its throne, the one that is both beautiful and slightly absurd. The stalks are pale greyish-green, often covered in tiny, scale-like projections. They are hollow and brittle, easily broken. The cups are usually solitary but can be clustered, forming a small colony of tiny trumpets on the ground. When you find a cluster of them, it looks like a tiny orchestra waiting to play. Biologically, Cladonia fimbriata is a partnership, a fungus and an alga living together. The fungus provides structure and protection. The alga provides food through photosynthesis. The cups are the reproductive structures, producing spores that will grow into new lichens. To find Cladonia fimbriata is to find the tiny trumpets in the moss. They are pale, cup-shaped, and fringed, a miniature orchestra waiting to play. You can run your finger around the fringed margin and feel the tiny projections. It is the lichen of the waiting trumpet, the one that looks designed for something that never arrived, the one that proves that the most beautiful things are often the most useless.