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Is this Coppinsiella ulcerosa?

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  • May 12, 2026 at 1:31 pm #33177
    SylviaD
    Participant

      Hi,

      I found a large spread of this very fertile lichen low down on a very old Ash. It keyed out as Coppinsiella ulcerosa, but I’ve never knowingly seen that and after looking at the recent C ulcerosa thread, I wanted to check.

      Thallus: grey/white, K-

      Soredia: pale yellow, mostly dispersed across the thallus and not confluent, K-

      Apothecia: dark orange (the colour in the photos I think makes them look slightly lighter than they actually were), slightly lighter margin. K purple

      Spores: 10-12.5 x 5-7.5, with the septum 1/2 to 1/3 of the spore

      Thank you

      Sylvia

      May 12, 2026 at 3:57 pm #46952
      Neil Sanderson
      Senior Moderator

        Sylvia

        What I can see of the soralia look more like those of Caloplaca alstrupii, with a rim of thallus “exploding” around the pustule. The very yellow soralia (P5120132.jpg) belong to something else I think; there is a sorediate Flavoplaca species in other pictures.

        Neil

        May 14, 2026 at 7:04 pm #46953
        SylviaD
        Participant

          Thanks Neil,

          That’s really interesting. I have a reasonable sample so I’ll do a bit more microscopy and see where that gets me.

          Sylvia

          May 18, 2026 at 10:00 pm #46954
          Neil Sanderson
          Senior Moderator

            I collected some fertile Caloplaca alstrupii last week from a known tree. Some pictures:

            2026-05-13-01.jpg

            [attachment=5]2026-05-13-01.jpg[/attachment]
            Apothecia with a crateriform soralia with green soredia to the right. (A stacked picture, manual focus with stacking using HeliconForcus; my new toy!)

            2026-05-13-03.jpg

            [attachment=4]2026-05-13-03.jpg[/attachment]
            Apothecium section in water.

            2026-05-13-04.jpg

            [attachment=3]2026-05-13-04.jpg[/attachment]
            Apothecium squash in K with spores

            2026-05-13-05.jpg

            [attachment=2]2026-05-13-05.jpg[/attachment]

            2026-05-13-06.jpg

            [attachment=1]2026-05-13-06.jpg[/attachment]

            2026-05-13-08.jpg

            [attachment=0]2026-05-13-08.jpg[/attachment]
            Spores in K, quite varied in shape and 9 – 11 x 6 – 8 µm with the septa just about half the length of the spore.

            Caloplaca alstrupii is usually sterile but quite common and found on damaged young trees. I think Coppinsiella ulcerosa is actually quite a bit less frequent (but more often fertile) and typically found on older wounded trees.

            I have some older Coppinsiella ulcerosa collections, I will have a look at the spores in these tomorrow.

            Neil

            May 19, 2026 at 8:01 pm #46955
            Neil Sanderson
            Senior Moderator

              I checked my herbarium and the two “Caloplaca ulcerosa” specimens I had, both appeared to be Caloplaca alstrupii! ho hum.

              I do have photo of Coppinsiella ulcerosa however:

              2019-05-16-11.jpg

              [attachment=0]2019-05-16-11.jpg[/attachment]
              Coppinsiella ulcerosa, Ash Dibden, Hampshire.

              This does look very like your specimen and one thing visible on both is a thin, soon excluded thaline margin. Caloplaca alstrupii lacks any sign of this, so I sure your specimen is Coppinsiella ulcerosa.

              All the best

              Neil

              May 19, 2026 at 8:10 pm #46956
              SylviaD
              Participant

                Thanks so much Neil. Yes, there is definitely a thalline margin on these apothecia and the colour on your photo is what I see – I find it quite difficult to get yellow/orange on photos actually the colour I see in reality. The habitat would fit as well – very old tree with damage to the trunk.

                Best wishes,

                Sylvia

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