Help with Lichen IDs - tree stump

[Loz]

Hi,
I'm new to the world of lichens, but I'm finding them fascinating! Can someone help me Id these please? They are all found on a rotting tree stump, sorry I dont know the species.

Cheers in advance,
Loz

[AlanS]

Hello Loz,

As you are new to the world of lichens you have started by jumping in at the deep end!

All these are Cladonia species, but it is a large and nasty genus, with each species capable of a lot of variation. However, you do seem to have found a very good log, and your photographs show them well.

No. 1. is Cladonia squamosa, nicely fruiting material, and your photograph shows the characteristic peeling squamules (flaky bits) very clearly. I am jealous of your photograph! Better than any of mine so far. Can I ask what camera you are using? You are obviously taking time over these and using a tripod.

No. 2 is a member of the Cladonia chlorophaea complex - a group of several species (or better as subspecies) which are difficult to separate without chemical tests. Call it Cladonia chlorophaea. I may come back to this.

No. 3. is Cladonia ochrochlora - a favourite of mine and nicely shown here. It forms very small cups, with the brown bits (pycnidia) raised slightly, like a crown, and the 'stalk' has bare ('decorticate') patches. Often, as the name suggests, there is a distinctly yellow colour to the fresh fruiting bodies, but it loses this after collection. Again I am jealous of this photograph - the only time I have seen material as photogenic as this my camera malfunctioned - leaving me with about 20 photographs all underexposed with a strong magenta cast.

No. 4. is a mixture of two species, neither easy. The spiky one is probably C. coniocraea, which is very common on damp trunks and logs, but it is sometimes not easy to separate from C. ochrochlora. The decorticate areas seen in your photograph could indicate the latter, but I think they are due to grazing, not the natural state of the lichen.
The cup-shaped one is more difficult and sometimes, with poor material, it is better to wait and look for something better. It is either C. fimbriata or C. chlorophaea again, but is not perfect material of either species.

Alan

[Loz]

Alan,

Thank you for such a helpful reply, thats fantastic! My camera is a Panasonic FZ50 with a Raynox 150 macro attachment. I didnt use a tripod for these, luckily the stump was in a sunny position and I am blessed with lots of patience and a steady hand!

I appears that I identified number 1 correctly (although not confidently enough to say so!), hopefully with a bit more practice ill become more confident in my own identifications :-)

Loz

[AlanS]

Originally Posted by Loz

Thank you for such a helpful reply, thats fantastic! My camera is a Panasonic FZ50 with a Raynox 150 macro attachment. I didnt use a tripod for these, luckily the stump was in a sunny position and I am blessed with lots of patience and a steady hand!
Loz

Definitely a steady hand! Thanks for the info. Some digital cameras tend to reproduce greenish-grey colours rather poorly, often too grey, so while your camera (or colour setting?) might be a touch vivid, I'd say your Panasonic is more accurate than some others I have tried.

Looking again at your no. 4, I am more confident that the pixie-cup one is true Cladonia chlorophaea.
As I said, your no. 2 is in the same group, but a bit puzzling. The basal squamules are unusual.

While checking an American book I see that they call C. squamosa 'Dragon Funnel' there. This appeals to me! (Makes mental note for a meeting I shall be running.)

Alan