Order: Lichinales       Family: Lichinaceae Species: Ephebe lanata Growth type filamentous. Photos: On acidic upland rock. Ballingeary, Cork, SW Ireland. Soft dark-green or black thallus, slightly branched and with much-divided filaments tapering to points. Mat-forming growth. Groups of small, globose apothecia, rarely formed in Britain and Ireland. Ascus is 8-spored, spores simple to 1-septate, 11-18 x 3.5-6 µm. Microscope photograph of thallus below. On damp or aquatic rocks in acidic upland areas and in seepage tracks on siliceous rocks and boulders. Chemical reactions negative.

Microscope photograph

Ephebe lanata. February and August 2009