Thelomma mammosum
Rock nipple, doll’s eyes
Yesterday was the first day I missed a post since starting this project, and I would like to apologize. Valentines day--they day when I should have laid out the extent of my love for lichens. And I failed. So today, 2 lichen posts!
The first of my great loves I would like to share is T. mammosum! A while ago I posited that Placopsis gelida looked like a boob. But this is canonically the boob lichen! Who knew? This areolate crustose lichen forms strongly convex verrucas, and when fertile these are filled with black mazaedium in the centeral apothecial disc.The surface is olive-gray and shiny, almost leathery in appearance. It usually grows on rock near coasts in Europe and North America. It’s a really cool looking lichen and I enjoy it very much (even though I don’t think it looks that much like a boob sorry).
Happy day after Valentine’s day!
source | source
