#chrysothrix

[lichenaday]

Chrysothrix pavonii

This micro-fruticose/leprose lichen has a thallus made up of tiny, yellow filaments woven around the spines of cacti and branches of spiky shrubs. It has inconspicuous apothecia that are often hidden in the thallus, but emerge when fully mature. The apothecia have yellow discs surrounded by felty, yellow margins. I have never seen a lichen like it. Look at these close-ups!

Such an odd growth form, like it is barely keeping itself together. Absolutely wild and I love it. C. pavonii was only just described in 2018, and has only been found in costal Chile.

images: source | source

info: source

[lichenaday]

Chrysothrix insulizans

This dusty-crusty (leprose-crustose) lichen gets its epithet "insulizans" i.e. "island-forming" from its tendency to grow in patchy bunches across the thallus, making it look like a little maritime map! This differs from other Chrysothrix species which often have thicker, more continuous thalli. It is typically bright yellow-green in color, and turns K+ red due to the presence of calycin in the thallus. C. insulizans can be found in eastern North America, where it grows on rocks and occasionally trees in hardwood forest ecosystems.

images: source | source

info: source | source

[lichenaday]

Chrysothrix candelaris

gold dust lichen, mustard powder lichen

Not all that glitters is gold--sometimes what glitters is lichen! A LOT of lichen. C. candelaris is a leprose lichen which grows on bark, wood, and rarely rock in sheltered microhabitats in cool-temperate, undisturbed regions. As you can see from these pictures, it can have a very extensive thallus, covering large areas in a thick, wooly layer, or it can grow in more dispersed, dusty patches across the substrate. It is always bright yellow in color, but can appear more orange or green tinged depending on its moisture level and how much sun exposure it gets. If you get up close and personal with it, you'll notice that C. candelaris is entirely composed of granules of fungal hyphae wrapped around bundles of chlorococcoid algae, primed for dispersal and ready to travel to a new substrate to colonize.

images: source | source | source

info: source | source

[lichenaday]

Chrysothrix xanthina

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[drhoz]

#2206 - Chrysothrix candelaris - Gold Dust Lichen

AKA mustard powder lichen.

A powdery lichen usually found on dry shaded tree bark (pine, here), and sometimes on rock. It does not reproduce by spores, instead having fragments of the thallus spread by the wind, or on the feet of animals.

This lichen is widespread, and common in some parts of Europe and North America.

Katikati Bird Garden, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

[metagirl]

Chrysothrix

Chrysothrix is a genus of lichen, commonly called “Gold Dust Lichen” for obvious reasons. After a little bit of research I suspect this to be Chrysothrix chlorin, but really have no actual way of knowing from just the picture I have left of the experience. I found it on the Malerweg trail outside of Dresden, Germany.  It was on a large rock wall, among Old Saxon ruins.  This species is known to…

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