Snowy white lichen for ID please:-)

[sunnydale]

I've never seen lichen like this before, bright white and velvety soft looking.
Sorry the quality isn't good. I was hoping the colour would give it away
(My camera isn't always up to the job)



Thanks,
Tracey

[Kayleigh]

I have seen this a lot where I am too so I would also like to know what it is.

[fairplay]

This is a fungus not a lichen, and this is a type of 'resupinate' fungi, simply meaning forming a crust on the surface it is on.

Knowing what the wood is will help to narrow down the species, but I do believe I can see a very tiny Jelly Ear fungus beginning to grow on the far right end of the root.

Jelly Ear can grow on many hard wood species, but tends to favour Elder (Sambucus nigra).

If this is Elder, then the white fungus is Elder Whitewash (Hyphodontia sambuci).

Problem is, Elder Whitewash is usually just a thin layer, and because the white in the photo is 'burnt out' because of the flash, this is giving me the impression that it is thicker than it should be in which case I am talking a 'load of old squit' as they say in Suffolk.

Neil.

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by fairplay

This is a fungus not a lichen, and this is a type of 'resupinate' fungi, simply meaning forming a crust on the surface it is on.

Knowing what the wood is will help to narrow down the species, but I do believe I can see a very tiny Jelly Ear fungus beginning to grow on the far right end of the root.

Jelly Ear can grow on many hard wood species, but tends to favour Elder (Sambucus nigra).

If this is Elder, then the white fungus is Elder Whitewash (Hyphodontia sambuci).

Problem is, Elder Whitewash is usually just a thin layer, and because the white in the photo is 'burnt out' because of the flash, this is giving me the impression that it is thicker than it should be in which case I am talking a 'load of old squit' as they say in Suffolk.

Neil.

Hi Neil,

I've looked at various images of Elder Whitewash and most of them look very much like what I saw today. In reality, it wasn't as thick as my image suggests.....but as you quite rightly said, the flash did go off!

It was indeed a Jelly Ear fungus growing on the end of the branch - but as I already knew what that was (from an earlier ID request on here), I didn't mention it.

Thanks for your help!
Tracey