Lichen

I don't know what species this is, but I was lichen it when I saw it.

How lovely.

Photo taken with a cheap digital scope. Soredia are a type of propagule found on lichens. I lichen them to a little 'seedship' made up of a few alga and/or bacteria loosely bound by the hyphae of the fungal partner. These propagules are carried off by wind, water, insects, etc. and contain everything needed to start a new colony if they end up in a suitable habitat. Sometimes soredia are spread out over certain parts of the thallus, but in this case they are being dispersed by the soralia erupting on the ridges of this lichen.

Some of our local Lobaria pulmonaria absolutely thriving in an old growth park. The park is full of these large, gnarly old birch trees and many of them have these massive colonies growing on them. They don't always look like much when desiccated but if you catch them after a rain storm they are stunning. I've read that L. pulmonaria has to live to an age of about 25 years to be able to produce propagules.

I see this everywhere on the Canadian Shield in Ontario, for context

Cladonia rangiferina info: https://lichenportal.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=141087

Not sure how I managed to never hit this species with UV. I would describe the colour as a bright, hot, lipstick pink. I am unsure if this lichen is actually fluorescing or if something else to do with how the pigments show up under UV light - maybe @[email protected] would know. Picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Probably the only Cladonia species I can (somewhat) confidently ID, if I'm wrong please let me know haha. I wish I had more time to sit down and brush up on my microscopy skills. I've come across this Cladonia field guide if any one is interested in a key to Cladonia. I will need to set some time aside to try it out. I have a few spots I frequent where Cladonia cakes every available surface.

Its been raining a lot here so lots of our lichens are brightly coloured and cheery.

Parmelia sulcata info: https://www.lichenportal.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Parmelia+sulcata&tid=&formsubmit=Search+Terms

Lecanora genus info: https://www.lichenportal.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Lecanora+Ach.&tid=51988&formsubmit=Search+Terms

I'm not great with crust lichens (or ID in general haha) so don't know where to start with this one. This lichen was found growing on a pressure treated wood fence post so my first impression was that the colour might be the result of copper accumulation from the treatment chemicals. Its also likely (maybe more likely?) that its just a species I haven't come across yet. I haven't really started the ID process and I may not get to it for some time but I'd love to hear other people's thoughts. I didn't have my KOH on me but this area is one I frequent so I will bring it next time and see if I can't get a sample for the microscope.

Lecanora sp. centre (Hypogymnia physodes at the very top, Parmelia sp. at the very bottom) Found on spruce twig. Spot test with KOH - positive, yellow/green.

Usnea genus info: https://www.lichenportal.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=usnea&tid=&formsubmit=Search+Terms

About two years ago I wanted to learn more about lichen. Since I cultivate mushrooms as hobby, I figured that attempting to isolate the wild lichen symbionts and then re-synthesizing the lichen would be a good way to learn about them. The experiment was not successful, in part because it is a long process and at one stage I did not give it the attention it needed. But at least I can share a bit of the process and observation.

Growing on rotting spruce or pine stump next to a lake. Found so many species of Cladonia on our backroad excursion last week, I really wish I was better at ID'ing these. I did happen to find my first 'british soliders' type (not pictured) with the bright red apothecia, so that was exciting. I love the way some Cladonia form these little city-like landscapes with the towering podetia (the shrek-ear things).

Growing on birch bark, possibly in association with the bright-yellow powdery lichen, that might be Chrysothix? In the past, I have found this lichen growing on spruce with Chrysothix as well.

Found on a spruce twig in mainly spruce-doug fir forest. I was lucky enough to find plenty of windfall on the ground so grabbed a couple pieces for my collection. The bright yellow pigmentation is from vulpinic acid which makes this one of the few poisonous lichens in my area.