OK, I know, if you are looking at these pictures you are probably thinking that these lichens don’t all look that much alike. And yeah, you’d be right. But let’s just call that a fun lil feature of A. cervina. Never wears the same look twice. This crustose lichen has a cracked thallus of pale green-gray to dark brown, often appearing paler through a thick layer of pruina (frost-like coating on the surface). You may not even notice this though, since the apothecia grow bigger and cover more and more space with age. The apothecia have a prominent hyaline margin, and a flat or concave disc that is typically brown in color. But keep in mind, these characteristics are not true to all individuals. A. cervina grows on calcareous rock in Africa, Australasia, North America, and Europe. And let’s be honest, probably some other places too, but because it is so hard to recognize, it probably hasn’t been well documented. Hell, it might even be multiple species–or actually variations on another species! This is true for a lot of crustose lichens. So hey, if you are really into the idea of getting to name a new species, might I recommend lichenology? There is a very good chance that if you decide to study crustose lichens, you’ll get to “discover” one that has been under everyone’s noses for all of time.
This entry was posted by jbc on Sunday, January 2nd, 2022 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Tumblr.
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