Five Fun and Easy to ID lichens that are equally easy to find if you know where to look!
It's not common, infact, ambient humidity of specific variety, air quality and old growth thicket growth are often requirements for lichen that specialize on leaves. We deem this term foliicolous, rather species that specialize on long term foliage. Between the humid ravines of the upper blue ridge's remnant oldgrowth we have two habitats for these species that I have taken pictures of, specifically these are the foliicolous lichen associated with Rhododendron hells. In Joyce Kilmer it is possible to find 4 on the same leaf structure at the same time.
Bacidina apiahica,
Rhodo Rust Dust or Tropical Emollient zoomed in in pic 3.
Often confused with a rusty fungus or sub-partial/ or early stage necrosis is the brown lichen in the powder dot group of Bacidia spp. Needle like spores when viewed under a microscope during wet extraction of a sample. The only truly similar one would be Gyalactidium appendiculatum which can appear on both sides of the leaf instead of just adaxial often in spray cliff communities near ravines where wind gust is gentle enough to flip leaves but not violent and humid enough to maintain it's presense, G. appendiculatum bears similar red to black colored apothecia in macro view but has its special indicators under a hand lense or hyphophores under microscrope, which can be tell tail which I will explain later as well as more of it's niche pref. As for Bacidina apiahica smokey mountain humidity lichen is often only found in wet /humid location.
Aulaxina quadrangula,
Peppered eggs
are hidden on top of the largest lichen pictured in this set, can you spot them. Seen in Photo 5. black dots are apothecia much denser than the yellow and/or black centered apothecia macro lichen they are growing over top of. White glossy thallus, "aggregate islands with dark black tiny apothecia in the center" is how i've heard them described. When looked at under a microscope it becomes apparent that the island like thallus isn't as smooth as it appears; Minute white hairs become apparent on the surface.
Niche is also found in spray cliffs, along streams and in spots near water falls.
Fellhanera bouteillei, Photo 5!
Eggs over Easy, seen best in the Peppered egg image with Yellow example of apothecia and a more greenish blue thallus. In contrast we have a larger species near by!
our easiest to spot/recognize Rhododendron lichen. Actually most common too, it occurs on a slew of other species too! Kalmia, Leucothoe, and Viburnum in humid upper blue ridge have been seen with this species.
Byssoloma subdiscordans,
Viewed best in 6 and 7.
is the black white brimmed black apothecia species and the largest of these rhodo lichens found in humid ravines rhodo hells. Its seen adjacent to pretty much all of the lichens present except for the last one.
Gyalectidium appendiculatum,
Flick a Tick
Last two pictures.
This I got lucky with in the upper reaches of Canton Hills, in a fir-birch forest, in a very humid hoarfrost covered setting above a stream. Scale like thallus, red center apothecia, each containing a raised centralized minute erect hair that may be observed with a hand lense or a microscope 40x that looks like it could flick an insect off like an annulus under pressure. It needs constant humidity year round from what i've heard, so a stream in the steamiest part of the hills should suffice. If you do look for this, it is most common on top of the leaves of Rhododendron spp.
