Tuesday 6 October 2015

Caloplaca saxicola

I'm attempting to identify and list all the lichens in a local churchyard as a project to help me become more confident in identifying species in this group. This one is the first:

Pre microscopic clues:
Thallus yellow, crustose and lobed
Apothecia yellow, lecanorine and up to 1mm.
Apothecia K+ magenta

The above K+ magenta reaction suggests that the Lichen is Caloplaca or Protoblastenia.

Hymenium 100µm
Ascus 57x12µm
Spores 10x6µm and polaricular

Spores are colourless and simple with Protoblastenia which leaves us with just Caloplaca:
Thallus corticate (having a cortex)
On Rock
Cortex yellow K+ purple
Placodioid-lobate
Lobes less than 2mm, Ascospores ellipse shaped
Marginal lobes 2-5 times longer than wide with no blackening
Lobes 1mm or more
Lobes yellow with some white pruina, bloated, about 2x longer than wide on calcareous rock

Caloplaca saxicola

Caloplaca saxicola apothecia section

Caloplaca saxicola ascospore


1 comment:

  1. In the microscope they look really a bit different of what I imagined.

    ReplyDelete