Irish lichens
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Order: Pertusariales Family: Megasporaceae
Species: Aspicilia cinerea agg. Photos: On coastal rocks. Beara peninsula, Co. Cork, SW Ireland Very variable. Areolate pale-grey to dull-grey thallus (someimes tinged brown or greenish) with a black prothallus. The apothecia are black with persistent whitish grey margins, initially immersed then slightly raised with 1-2 in each areole. Spores simple, 12-22 x 6-13 µm. Conidia 11-16 x 1 µm. Chemistry K+ red, C-, Pd+ orange Found on exposed acidic upland and coastal rocks Other members of the Aspicilia cinerea agg. have larger spores, 20-28 µm long but conidia must be measured (in spring) for certain identification. A. intermutans (conidia 7-12 x 1 µm) is probably the most frequent, A. epiglypta (conidia 15-28 x 1 µm) is rare |
Aspicilia cinerea. May 2010