cladonia lichen help please!

[diggleken]

These two, one on tree moss and one on frozen peaty soil, grateful for help please.
Cheers
Ken

[sidewalkdoctor]

Ken, I am no expert but Collins Complete guide to British Mushrooms & Toadstools would suggest that

#1 is Cladonia uncialis

whilst

#2 is Cladonia floerkeana


I am now off to don my flame-retardent suit in anticipation of what may be coming my way......

Ben

[diggleken]

Hi Ben,
that made me laugh - I often await the experts with trepidation, partic on fungi, but its a good way of getting there with gaining some knowledge I think ................
Damn, I forgot all about Collins' complete having some ID bits at the back, so thanks a lot, thats great - the floerkeana seems pretty good, but the uncialis is wrong (it wasnt on the ground) - it was on mossy growth on a tree, so possibly similar to Oak moss, Evernia prunastri?......................Anyone else help?
I am also now goingfor my fire retardant suit, or failing that a stiff whisky, got some nice stuff for christmas..........
Cheers
Ken

[sidewalkdoctor]

Well, I did say I was no expert but 1 out of 2 ain't bad!

Oddly, I got a bottle of J Jamesons finest for Chrimbo myself...

Ben

[JennyS]

Hi Ken,

The first is Ramalina farinacea, second could be Cladonia bellidiflora - the podetia (stalk-like bit) is much too squamulose (try saying that in a hurry!) for C. floerkeana.

Jenny

[diggleken]

Originally Posted by JennyS

Hi Ken,

The first is Ramalina farinacea, second could be Cladonia bellidiflora - the podetia (stalk-like bit) is much too squamulose (try saying that in a hurry!) for C. floerkeana.

Jenny

Hi Jenny, I thought you might input when I posted this!
Hope you had a good christmas and heres to a great new year.
I know my book only shows a few, so, as with fungi, expected it to be close, but not right and googling your suggestions, they look very good.
AlanS last year pointed out the differences with bellidiflora and also polydactyla, (slightly misquoted by me here, sorry Alan), but :-
''the dense, peeling squamules on the sides of the fruitbody that help diagnose bellidiflora , and the fruit body almost always terminates in a point (hidden by large, blunt apothecia when fertile). whilst in polydactyla hidden by the large, red apothecia (big red blobs), the fruitbodies terminate in irregular cups. C. polydactyla is enormously variable but which commonly produces irregularly branched fruitbodies with distorted cups.
Thanks a lot,
Cheers
Ken
x x

[poschiavanus]

One thing worth remembering in the field about C. bellidiflora is that the squamules are not soreidiate: they have a very smooth appearance under a lens. Check out the last image for this species on AlanS's site - http://www.lichens.lastdragon.org/Cladonia_bellidiflora.html - which shows this very nicely.

To my mind the podetia of bellidiflora have quite a distinctive jizz (AlanS remarks about pagodas in the notes on his site) which I don't see in this specimen. Although this may just be because of the angle of view.

posch

PS Happy New Year one & all

[diggleken]

Thanks posch, still unclear then!
No other pics, so thats that....................never easy these things.
Happy new year to you too though!
Cheers
Ken