Baeomyces heteromorphus
I know that, superficially, the fruiting bodies of B. heteromorphus look like tiny mushrooms, but they aren't really. What we typically call "mushrooms" are the fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi, while the majority of lichens are ascomycete fungi. The big difference comes down to the spore-producing structures (which are generally not visible to the naked eye)--the basidiomycetes produce spores externally (stalk-like structures called basidia), whereas ascomycetes produce spores internally (sac-like structures called asci). Are these definitions ever gonna be helpful to you? Probably not. But IDK, maybe you come across one of these little guys on a hike some time and someone is like "oooo look at the tiny mushrooms!" and then you can be like "um actually . . . " and won't that be fun? Hmm, maybe this is why I don't have many friends . . .
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