#lovin lichens

[lichenaday]

Ophioparma ventosa

Blood-spot

Sorry to post so many pictures of this gal but c’mon, just look at her. This lichen didn’t have to go this hardcore but she did. O. ventosa is crustose lichen that forms delimited patches of areoles surrounded by a pale prothallus. The coloration is usually gray or cream tinged with yellow-green. The abundant apothecia are lecanorine, rounded or irregular, with that bright red flat to convex disc. She usually occurs in high mountain and alpine habitats on siliceous rocks. A specimen of O. ventosa was recently identified in the Indian Himalayas, expanding its range into that area of the world! There are at least three genera of lichen that produce similar apothecia, but the differ in the interstitial layers, asci, and chemistry, so examination in a lab setting is often needed to identify the exact genus and species. No matter which gorgeous specimen you are viewing though, isn’t it great to live on a planet with symbiotic organisms who look this incredible?! 

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[lichenaday]

Flavocetraria nivalis

Crinkled snow lichen 

This shrubby guy is F. nivalis! A beautiful crinkly mess of a thing, wouldn’t you say? This lichen forms elongate, erect, dichotomously branched lobes with a veined surface and tufted at the apices, 2-4 cm long. The coloration is pale ivory-green, with a yellowish-brown, decayed base. Round and convex pseudocyphellae are common on the lower surface. Apothecia are rare, simple, and marginal, if present at all. Pycnidia are more common and noticeable along the margins as little black, bulging spots. It can be found on rocky or humic soil in cold alpine or arctic climates. Usually it grows is open areas devoid of trees or heavy vegetation. Bolivian Qollahuaya people in the Andes mountains brew this lichen into a tea to treat altitude sickness and heart problems, in case you needed another reason to think this lichen is pretty cool. 

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[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]

Porpidia macrocarpa

This crustose lichen is described as “very variable” which is maddeningly unhelpful, but what are you gonna do? The thallus or P. macrocarpa is typically immersed to somewhat immersed, and typically continuous, though sometimes forming areoles. The surface is rough and pale but comes is a whole host of colors from gray to green to pink. The apothecia are darkly colored, round (ish), sessile, and can be pale pruinose or not. It typically has a distinct, dark margin, though even that can be incomplete or indistinct. Even the chemical tests appear to be inconclusive! So how can you ID this lichen? I . . . am not sure. Even professional lichenologists agree that it is probably impossible to ID in the field.  P. macrocarpa is mostly found on siliceous rock, and occasionally on pebbles and wood, and is found in temperate, alpine, and arctic regions. Lichens like this pal are rarely studied since collecting them is a pain, which is pretty sad if you think about it. Just because this guy can’t pick one look he gets ignored! Well I support his variability and love him just the way he is (or isn’t)! 

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[lichenaday]

Lobothallia alphoplaca

Variable sunken disc lichen, puffed sunken disc lichen 

L. alphoplaca is a gorgeous example of a crustose-placodioid lichen, meaning that it forms areoles in the thallus center but forms lobes along the margin of the rosette. It is cream, gray, olive, or tan in color with a rough upper surface and a mottled lower surface. The apothecia are densely clustered toward the center and are lecanorine and darkly colored brown-red to black. L. alphoplaca prefers to grow on basic and siliceous rocks with gently inclined sunny surfaces. It can be found only in mountainous regions of the northern hemisphere (so far). I found a wealth of pictures of this lichen in all its glory and was hard pressed to choose just a few to try to represent this absolutely lovely pal. Please go look at more photos of this boy and his beautiful growth forms! I love him. 

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