Micarea hedlundii
Hey, it's not polite to stare. I know this lichen has its pycnidia all out there in the open like that, but c'mon, show a little decorum. Just kidding, stare all you want. That's the point of this blog. Gaze upon the little weirdo that is M. hedlundii. This crustose lichen has a thallus of granular goniocysts (algal colonies inside a fugal sheath) which are dull olive-green on the outside, oily yellow-orange to violet on the inside. It only rarely produces apothecia, which are small and grayish brown to dark brown in color. Its most noticeable feature are those stalked pycnidia. What are pycnidia? They are flask-shaped, asexual reproductive structures which produce vegetative propagules. In most lichens, they are embedded in the thallus and inconspicuous, but M. hedlundii decided to make them a feature. These pycnidia are cylindrical, pink-brown to gray brown in color, and covered in white tomentum. Why? Because why not, I guess! If you want to stare at this gorgeous little weirdy in real life, you can find it growing vertically on stumps and rotting conifer wood at high elevations in scattered arctic-alpine regions of Asia, North America, and Europe.
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