#teloschistes

[lichenaday]

Hi there! I saw these cool little guys on a stick on my morning walk today, and thought I would share. I hope your day is going great!

Ah yeah, those are some adorable little yellow guys! The best way to start the day is with lichens. Gonna start a life coaching business where the advice I give for everything is "Go look for lichens!"

[drhoz]

#2648 - Teloschistes velifer - Sail-bearing Hair Lichen

A bark-dwelling lichen found in Australia, New Zealand, and South America. 'Velifer' means 'Sail-bearing' and refers to the large lobes held above the rest of the organism.

First described by the Australian minister and lichenologist Francis Wilson (1832–1903) in 1889. He noted the rare lichen to prefer small twigs of the bush Hymenanthera banksii, where it could often cover an entire side.

Wilson made collecting trips from Melbourne to Lorne, Lakes Entrance, Ferntree Gully, Brisbane, Sydney and Suva, Fiji. Between 1897 and 1900 he wrote at least 20 articles on lichens. The lichen genus Franwilsia was named after him in 2014.

After his death his collections were purchased by the National Herbarium of New South Wales and the National Herbarium of Victoria, but when the latter collection was sent to Italy to be studied it was lost in transit and never recovered.

Lake Tekapo, Aotearoa New Zealand

[mimeticspace]

Teloschistes

[cedar-glade]

In the chert barrens near Joplin, MO the Wildcat glades lay on both sides of one of MO’s cleanest rivers,  riparian structure is intact and incredibly diverse. The barrens are home to incredible spectacles of lanceleaf coreopsis and other early June blooming species, this includes eastern prickly pear and even some late season hyacinth action. 

For me though, I ended up visiting the site Mid July, mostly to see the flame flowers that grow on the exposed silicate and quartz rich rock, or chert. I didn’t end up seeing any in bloom; but, what I did see was plenty of unique lichen.

Im not entirely sure; but, I believe this is Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, an Orange Bush Lichen, 

Orange bush lichens remind me of what I’de expect if fruticose Cladonia spp. were more orange and yellow and were found mainly on semi decayed standing branches on snags. 

The Brodo key describes these lichens( Teloshistes spp.) as such: 

“Bright orange to gray, shrubby or tufted fruticose lichens, with large orange apothecia when fertile. Photobiont green( Trebouxia ). Spores polarilocular, 8 per ascus. Chem: Orange portions of cortex and( or ) apothecial disks PD-, K+ deep red-purple, KC-, C- (Yellow or orange anthraquinones); Gray areas negative to reagents. Habitat: on the branches of trees and shrubs, on rocks,, and on the ground. comments: a few species are entirely gray except for disks. for example, T. californicus, a rare species from coastal southern, CA into Baja, CA, looks like some gray abberation of Ramalina spp. or even Everina spp. Especially because it’s always sterile . However, it has fuzzy, flattened branches with reticulate, sinewed surface, lacks soredia, and is entirely negative to spot tests, making it unlike any other lichen. 

Key:

1. Branches producing granular soredia; apothecia rare... T. flavicans

1. Branches without soredia; apothecia common ... 2

2.Thallus in tufts up to to cm high; apothecial margins abundantly ciliate... T. chrysophthalmus

2. Thallus in tufts 3-7 cm high; apothecial margins with out cilia... T. exilis” PG 674. Lichens of North America

T. Chrysophthalmus: 

Thallus was short, and had shrubby tufts the junction connecting to the wood in this photo or the thalloid stype was gray. The west coast var. is apparently much more modelled overall than the Central Plains and Ozarks ecotype. There is also a ketone glade, MI, Lake Erie Ohio Alvar, and a eastern Coastal Plains ecotype. One super disjunct individual was found in northern Canada.  If you look in the back ground you may be able to make out of apothecia with ciliated margins. These are almost exclusively found on dead branches. This species is highly susceptible to air pollution death and has been lost in the majority of it’s midwest range. Im very happy to have finally seen one with my own eyes. 

[lichenaday]

Teloschistes capensis

images: source | source | source

[cedar-glade]

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, an Orange Bush Lichen,

ciliated margins on apothecia 

[drhoz]

#3676 - Teloschistes xanthorioides

Named for the 'perfectly split' thallus, and the resemblance to Xanthoria lichens. It was described in 1960 by James Murray (1923–1961), an organic chemist and lichenologist who worked at the University of Otago.

Widespread but quite uncommon in New Zealand, possibly also known from Australia although I'm a bit dubious about that record.

Christchurch, NZ.

[calochortus]

Repent, Sinners, Repent by Ken-ichi on Flickr.