Phyllosymbia in Scotland

Passing on a message about an exciting new and very odd lichen found growing over moss in old woodlands in the Highlands from James Rainey of Trees for Life:

Hey folks,

I’m getting in touch about the discovery of an organism some of you might have already come across during fieldwork but not known what it was!

Last year, researchers in Taiwan published a paper on Phyllosymbia, an unusual organism structured like a lichen in reverse, with a cyanobacteria forming the outer structure and a fungal endosymbiont https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt4093” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt4093.

Until now, it’s only been confirmed from Taiwan’s cloud forests. But when I read the paper I recognised it, so sent some pictures to one of the authors who has confirmed it as Phyllosymbia.

It seems to be mostly restricted to pine and birch dominated temperate rainforests here, where it grows amongst bryophytes on acidic substrates. I’ve photographed it in Strath Vaich, Shieldaig, Barrisdale and Glenorchy, and Gus Routledge has seen it in Glen Nevis, Glen Affric and near Garve.

I’m going to send samples off to the researcher who’ll work through the genetics, so hopefully we’ll get an idea of whether we have the same species complex as in Taiwan or something different.

Anyway one to look out for! Let me know if it’s something you recognise, or come across during fieldwork in future, as it would be good to build up a clearer picture of its distribution, requirements, and whether it could be threatened. Some pics below:

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Good hunting

Neil