ID Help for Two Cladonias Please

[Lancashire Lad]

Found on the stone parapet of a small moorland stream bridge. (16/08/09).

The two Cladonias in situ: -


The ones at the left hand side: -
Could this be C.humilis?


The ones at the righ hand side: -
Possibly C.clorophaea?


Any help towards ID would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Mike.

[JennyS]

Hi Mike, I've not seen C. humilis but the habitat doesn't seem right according to Dobson. Maybe Cladonia fimbriata for this one but that's very tentative.

No.2 looks like it could be going to be red-fruited which would rule out C.chlorophaea, and you've another showing the start of red fruits in the back RH corner.

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks JennyS - (back to the drawing board - again! ).

Regards,
Mike.

[AlanS]

Hi Mike,

Always tricky to identify these from photographs and I am not going to be dogmatic.

It is possible (probable?) that both are chemical entities within the Cladonia chlorophaea complex - some 5 or 6 "species" that are poorly defined morphologically and which generally are given only limited recognition in British books. (This complex really should include C. humilis, though I don't think either of yours are this.)

The left-hand group seems straight C. chlorophaea to me (cup margin doesn't look right for C. fimbriata, and the cups are too tapered).

The right hand group might, as Jenny has pointed out, have red pycnidia, but sometimes brown pycnidia can be more red at first, and your photograph does look intriguingly like the photograph of Dutch C. chlorophaea in van Herk & Aptroot (Veldgids Korstmossen, the Dutch equivalent of 'Dobson'). We need chemical tests and critical examination of the granules in the cups here.
I suppose it could be our old friend C. diversa - if the pycnidia are truly red then it would have to be, I think - but my hunch is that it is another member of the C. chlorophaea complex.

Alan

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks Alan,

If I ever get back to where they were found I will take more photos.
It might be interesting to see how much (if at all) they've changed.

Regards,
Mike.