#lichen it

[lichenaday]

this lichen was so turquoise and round!! it doesnt show up half as much in picture :D (pic by me, location northern europe)

Mmmm I know what you mean. Photos never do them justice. Looks like Parmelia saxatilis! A very good friend.

[naturephiliashop]

mini terrarium pendant // cladonia lichen

[lichenaday]

Lecidea tessellata

Mosaic tile lichen 

*Holds your face gently between my hands* I will. I WILL make you care about crustose lichens.

L. tessellata has well developed white to whitish blue areoles (small, flattened thallus sections separated by deep cracks) 0.2-2 mm in diameter. Angular black apothecia occur between many of the areoles and cover a profuse amount of area, sometimes forming in dense clumps. It colonizes a variety of rock surfaces in open habitats world wide from alpine to tropical environments. A spectrometry study conducted in Utah found that L. tessellata in a desert environment discovered two pretty cool things that this lichen does: first, it accumulates haematite in its surface which it harvests from the rock to protect itself from intense solar radiation. Second, it harvests calcium ions from the air which it uses to breakdown and grow into acidic rock surfaces! Seriously, how cool is that? I love better understanding the cool ways that lichens interact with the world! This ability to break down rock means that crustose lichens are a key colonizer and contributor to ecosystem turnover and succession. Not that you needed all those reasons to love this gorgeous kid, but it helps. 

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[lichenaday]

Seirophora villosa

Oh so fuzzy! This hairy pal is S. villosa--an endangered lichen native to the Mediterranean.And those hairs serve an important purpose! They increase the lichen surface area which aids in water absorption, and protects the surface from becoming caked in salt. S. villosa has a fruticose thallus that grows into dichotomous, grooved  branches, forming a bushy tuft up to 10 cm tall. Bright orange, sub-apical apothecia are common, and stand out on the grayish-brown thallus surface. It occurs almost exclusively in sand dunes and juniper-dominated areas, where it grows epiphytically on trees, shrubs, and wood. A number of recent studies have focused on S. villosa and its responses to a warming and increasingly fragmented habitat. It appears to have limited dispersal capabilities, and the most important thing that can be done to protect this lichen is to conserve its local habitat and maintain local vegetation. It actually responds quite well to increased heat and UV radiation, proving what true survivors lichens continue to be. I hope to find this fuzzy friend on a lichen hunting trip I am taking to Mallorca in March! 

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[lichenaday]

Umbilicaria mammulata

Navel lichen, smooth rock tripe

Um, excuse me sir, who gave you permission to be that big??? Say hello to the world’s largest lichen, U. mammulata! This foliose lichen can grow to have a diameter up to 60 cm across! Although typically it stays between 15-30 cm. These  sheets are attached by a single holdfast (which gives it a little depression at the center that looks like a belly-button, hence the name Umbilicaria), and are gray-brown to olive-brown on he upper surface, black on the lower surface. The edges are often folden over, and the texture is said to be brittle when dry, and  leathery when wet. It is typically found growing on large, shaded rock surfaces in moist habitats in temperate regions. Apparently you can harvest and eat U. mammulata, but the taste is nothing special. Still, in a survival situation, go for it, I guess. Just make sure you boil it first so it is sterile. To find the largest specimens of this gargantuan pal, head to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Visit Dollywood on the way and you’ve made a vacation out of it! But I would be more excited to see this beautiful boy in person. 

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[lichenaday]

Ramalina sinensis

Fan ramalina, burning bush lichen, fan ribbon lichen, threadbare ribbon lichen

This beautiful weirdo is R. sinensis! They are a fruticose lichen that grows in palm frond or fan-like shape attached to the substrate by a basal holdfast. The branches are flattened, solid, ridged, and can grow to be 20-30 mm across. The coloration is yellowish green with white decorticate depressions on the lower surface. Flattened to convex laminal apothecia are common and concolorous with the surface. It grows exclusively on bark in temperate regions. R. sinensis is pretty unique in its shape, though could be confused with other Ramalinas in its younger stages. I wish more research dealt with the unique conditions that lichens experience that lead to the evolution of their unique growth forms but hey, easier said than done. Lichens that look and act very differently can grow in the exact same place (like in the first picture) so niche specialization doesn’t exactly make sense. I’m rambling. Anyway, enjoy this boy! 

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[lichenaday]

Xanthoparmelia cumberlandia

Cumberland rock-shield 

You know, I try to be understanding. Everyone has their own opinion on what is beautiful. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. But y’all, how could you not think this is one of the most gorgeous creatures on the planet?

 X. cumberlandia is an irregularly lobate foliose lichen that grows in rosettes or oblong patches 6-12 cm across. Those irregular lobes are seperated, elongated, and folded along the lobed edges (yes, lobes can have lobes). It is typically a light yellow-green to bluish-green, with a smooth shiny upper surface, and a tan-brown lower surface with a moderate number of rhizines which tightly adhered it to the substrate. Pycnidia are common, whereas isidia and soredia are absent. But truly, the substipitate (short-stalked) apothecia are the real eye-catchers here--intricately crinkled, folded, or toothed along the margin, with a range of colors from olive to cinnamon to dark brown, and packed together tightly in the rosette center, these apothecia are only found on individuals of a certain size. Once an individual has a surface area of 10 cm sq, it begins producing apothecia, and as it grows larger, this lichen spends a disproportionate amount of energy on producing  apothecia than it does on growth. The median number of apothecia measured on a popoulation of 101 lichens in California was 172! That’s a lot! X. cumberlandia often hangs out on acidic rock, soil, or pebbles in open or shaded habitats in Europe and and the Americas, and has also been found colonizing gravestone! I gladly welcome this gorgeous friend to dig in its hypaea and erode my tombstone someday. 

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