UK Fungi

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Some images of M. actophila from North Devon.

Juliet Having looked closely at all my herbarium specimens of M. actophila from North Devon and 2 from Portland the thallus comes out as the determining characteristic. UV reactions are very little help. The thallus is strongly developed in all the specimens being what I call a biscuit colour and of...

I wonder if this organism is parasitising the Ramalina or using it as substrate only? The hyphae coming from the underside appear septate and are extending into the lichen cortex but the lichen shows no ill effects. As this organism seems to contain both algae and hyphae could this be the smallest l...

You're probably right in thinking the alga involved in this relationship is a green alga rather than a cyanobacterium. I was interested to learn about the goniocysts of Moriola so looked more closely at the structure of the clumps of algal cells I have. I could find no fungal hyphae and the tissue c...

A black crust on a timber bench slat appears to be an extensive thallus of Lecidella elaeochroma in close association with a cyanobacterium. The lichen thallus is poorly developed and the cyanobacterium is present as numerous small, shiny black clusters on the thallus as well as around the edge of t...

The information and images alongside the maps for the Cladonias is just wonderful and I now actually look forward to identifying them. Thanks Neil. The tips for recognising xanthones with the help of spot tests in combination with UV are so useful but I need to create a folder with all the info on U...

From your microscope photo this looks to be Lecania naegelii with some spores bent and some resembling chipolata sausages in dimension. All your details fit well and it is quite common especially where there is nutrient enrichment. The colour of the apothecial discs is very variable and ranges from ...

Thanks for sharing this, Juliet. We looked at several Unguiculariopsis species during the workshop but I didn't see U. lesdainii. It appears that this lichenicolous fungus helped in identifying the host lichen. As you say U. thallophila seems fairly widespread in England and Scotland. Heather had br...

Hello John and Neil, It's interesting that this eye-catching, pebble-loving Rinodina has turned up in fertile condition somewhere else. In February 2021 we found R. aspersa with apothecia, not on a pebble, but on a coastal sandstone outcrop near Combe Martin in North Devon. This was the first record...

I replied to a different enquiry about the varieties of Graphis scripta just a couple of days ago and mentioned that they were being studied. Do you have a link to this Neil? Hadn’t heard of ‘betulina’ yet.

Thanks for this Neil - a real treat and satisfying to see your photo of the Cladonia firms looking just like the herbarium specimen I unearthed. Good to be reminded of the confluentic acid test too.

Hello Francesca,
This lichen occurs in different varieties which have a different chemistry. The 4 known varieties of Ramalina farinacea contain different combinations of lichen acids and yours had an acid which turns yellow (sometimes yellow to red) with KOH.