Five coastal lichen

[JennyS]

And another lot ..... all photographed on acidic coastal rock, SW Ireland and help and suggestions much appreciated!

Q1 Calaplaca - but can't figure out the crinkly orange apothecia


Q2 Cladonia - had hoped I was in with a chance with this one, but no.....


Q3 Neofuscelia, thought it could be N. delisei but not at all sure


Q4


Q5

[AlanS]

Hi Jenny,

As always, your lichens are more interesting than mine. I have had a day searching some of the very poor, acid dry-stone walls near me, and so have checked into the forum to see if anyone is posting anything better.

Your first one - I am sure you have considered Caloplaca crenularia and I agree the crinkly apothecia are odd. However, in 'Purvis' it says "apothecia occasionally slightly flexuose". I have checked my own photographs and I have one of C. crenularia on the Ayrshire coast in which most apothecia are flat as usual, but with just a few crinkly like yours. People are fairly constantly describing new Caloplaca species, but I don't recall any new ones in the crenularia group (unless you have just found one!). I think you should call yours C. crenularia.

No. 2. Well, it has large, corticate granules in the cup so you are in the C. pyxidata group. The traditional British view would be that as the site is acid and the basal squamules are not flat on the ground, this would be C. pyxidata itself, but if you read the mini-essay on my website you'll see I follow recent Dutch work which reassesses these taxa and shows that most of what has been called "pyxidata" is actually C. pocillum.
As your photograph shows the edges of the basal squamules to be abraded, and as there are pink tints (though admittedly in the podetia which may not count), I would say your photograph is indeed C. pocillum.

I found what I believe to be true C. pyxidata today, with much smaller, neat, entire-edged basal squamules, amongst rocks on peat, and this gives me greater confidence that most of what we see is C. pocillum and that C. pyxidata is rarer than has been supposed.

No. 3. I would have guessed Neofuscelia pulla, but I don't know these yet. Your judgement is almost certainly better than mine.

No.4 & no. 5 - I have no idea. The orange colour seems rather variable and may just be iron oxide that the lichen has pulled out of the rock, so it may be necessary to think of white or pale grey species, but even so, I have no suggestions.

Alan

[JennyS]

Hi Alan,

I'm just incredibly lucky to have developed an interest (daft obsession?) in lichen and be living in such a good area for them. Identifying them is another matter - I've only started trying to ID since November and its a one step forward, one step back dance a lot of the time...

1. I'll keep an eye out to see if the crinkly apothecia show up on other C. crenularia but I'll pass on the chance of describing a new Calaplaca species! Are the new species really different or just variations on a theme / different eco-types?

2. Thank you for the Cladonia clarification - I've got an awful of un-IDed cladonia's in different folders! It will be very useful to see your photographs of true C. pyxidata when you get them online.

No. 3. I would have guessed Neofuscelia pulla, but I don't know these yet. Your judgement is almost certainly better than mine.

I initially went for Neofuscelia pulla and it was mainly after checking the LichenIreland distribution maps and finding more sites for N.delisei in that area that I swung that way......I don't know them either and my judgment most very definitely wouldn't be better

The one below I do know ...... shame about photo quality but I wasn't going to risk snapping that twig for a better photograph! I reckon the lichen itself deserves a quick trumpet fanfare though!


Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden-eye lichen