#cryptogams

Ramalina inflata

This fruticose lichen grows in clusters of thick branches up to 4 cm tall. As you may have guessed, R. inflata gets its name from its puffy, balloon-like branches. These cartilaginous, yellow-green branches are perforated with oval holes, and are often capped by concave to flat, concolorous apothecia. It appears to have a southerly distribution, and can be found in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and southern South America. While there are some scattered accounts of it being found in the Northern Hemisphere, forgive me if I look at these accounts with some skepticism. Ramalinas are really variable, and therefore difficult to ID. It wouldn't surprise me if these northern accounts turn out to be misIDs, that's all I'm saying.

images: source

Musci exotici containing figures and descriptions of new or little known foreign mosses and other cryptogamic subjects 

by William Jackson Hooker. 

Myriolecis juniperina 

Erioderma mollissimum

Vole ears lichen, graceful felt lichen

Have you ever looked at something and thought: "huh, that sure does look like a voles ear." Cause some where some biologist looked at E. mollissimum and had that thought, and that is pretty wild.

Tortella inclinata

Shortleaf chalk moss, inclined twisted moss

Hey all, I have decided to transition to moss instead of lichens. I know this is a huge change and many of you will likely lose interest now that the focus of this blog has shifted so significantly, but I promise I will do my best to make moss as interesting as lichens. So please give a warm welcome to T. inclinata! This widespread, pioneer species grows on loose, calcareous substrates in sun-exposed habitats in cool-temperate regions. It has pale yellow-green stems and hooded, twisted leaves. It forms dense tufts up to 1 cm tall. This species is dioicous (has male and female parts on separate plant), and it forms curved ellipsoidal to cylindrical spore capsules in spring. So yeah, that's a moss for ya! Bryophytes are great and I totally like them more than lichens now.

(in case it isn't clear, this is an April Fool's joke and we will return to our regularly scheduled lichen posts tomorrow)

images: source | source | source

Ramalina labiosorediata

Powdery twig lichen, chalky bush lichen

Look, I know that "labio" is just the Latin for "lips." I know that. But that doesn't stop the dumb 13-year-old that lives in the back of brain from cringing and giggling when I read that word. I just . . . I would simply choose to not name R. labiosorediata that, ya know? This fruticose lichen has a shrubby thallus that grows in ragged clusters up to 2 cm long. It has flattened or slightly inflated branches which have marginal or terminal, lip-shaped soralia which often look like accidental splits in the surface spewing powdery soredia. R. labiosoreiata was established as its own species in 2017, and is the North American counterpart to the more widespread R. pollinaria.

images: source | source

Liverworts! I don't know jack about liverworts, except that yes, they do often grow alongside lichens, and they're bryophytes. I too would like to know more about them, but also don't know where to find good resources on them.for geographical distributions, I recommend iNaturalist or GBIF. I also trust the Australian National Botanic Gardens website for lichen info, so I assume their bryophyte info page is similarly reliable:

https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/classification-identification.html

If any of my followers have better resources, please let me know. Here's a picture I took of some liverworts for good measure