Irish lichens

Micarea prasina

Order: Lecanorales       Family: Micareaceae

Species: Micarea prasina

Growth type crustose, granular.
Photos: On shaded moss on sycamore. Snave, Cork, SW Ireland.
Specimen identified by John Douglass

Very variable and frequently sterile, requiring expert identification.
Light green or pale to dark grey-green thallus comprised of +/- dense, +/- globose goniocysts that sometimes form granules. Apothecia (when present) whitish, pale to dark grey, brown-grey or blackish. White, greyish or black pycnidia.

On tree stumps and mature trunks in old-growth woodland.
Thallus and apothecia: chemical reactions negative.
Greenish pigment on thallus surface is K and C +/- violet.

Similar: Micarea micrococca


Micarea prasina

Micarea prasina

Micarea prasina
Micarea prasina. October 2009

Please contact me if you find errors. All images used are copyright.