dog lichen ~ 03/03/14 ~ Purisima Creek

dog lichen (more photos)

Peltigera sp.

Finding any lichen ID matches online is a challenge, even with a public-friendly common name such as dog lichen.  Apparently, there are some dog lichens that are considered pests on lawns.  Who knew?  I didn't find an exact match for this lettuce-leafy specimen with chalky white back and blistery reddish-orange nodules scattered across the top surface (yes, my own descriptive words).  I also have pictures (sorry, not posted) of this same-looking dog lichen from Stevens Creek on February 10, 2014, which makes me think it must be fairly common in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  I'm guessing many ID'd photos online may be incorrect to sp.  However, I did find a couple decent dog lichen photo series on Stephen Sharnoff's Lichens Index 9 and Andrew Khitsun's Lichens of Wisconsin (for both sites, do a find for "peltigera" to quickly get to spot on page).  I've added their home pages to my online ID resources under fungi, lichens, and slime molds. 

wordless Wednesday

lichen ~ 06/09/11 ~ Pinnacles

possible Xanthoparmelia cumberlandia
or X. lineola

possible Caloplaca citrina
or C. saxicola
with toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)
Rosaceae

I thought I'd give it a shot to ID a couple of the estimated 300+ species of lichens at Pinnacles. These are my best guesses, and I could be totally off the mark. The only website I've found that has identified lichen pictures from Pinnacles is the California Lichen Society field trip page. I previously posted Pinnacles' lichen on March 4, 2011. Click on the highlighted links above for more information.

lichen and moss ~ 03/04/11 ~ Pinnacles

lichen and moss (or spike-moss)

Oooh, look at the pretty rocks! That's the best ID you're going to get out of me. I thought I'd try my hand at lichen ID this morning (posted 03/12/11). Ha! No way, José! If anyone can tell me the visual difference between Caloplaca ignea and Xanthoria elegans, please, please comment. There are an estimated 300+ species of lichens at Pinnacles. In the second photo above, I count at least 6 different kinds of lichen in about one square meter of rock. Seriously, who took the time to inventory all the lichen? If you're interested in lichen, I recommend these two great lichen sites: Lichens of North America (thanks to Ted at Beetles in the Bush from a comment made on Squirrel's View) and The California Lichen Society.

ps 09/08/11 - Thanks to help on my Flickr photo, the moss shown above may not actually be moss, but spike-moss, a totally different kind of plant. Who knew?