Order: Peltigerales       Family: Lobariaceae Species: Sticta sylvatica Growth type foliose. Identified by Andy Acton Photos: Among moss on wall. Ardnagashel, Cork, SW Ireland. Multi-lobed thallus, the dark brown lobes with greyish patches and faintly reticulated ridges. Margins ascending, deeply incised. Lower surface dark brown, buff at margins with pale cyphellae. Darker brown isidia form on lobe surfaces and ridges. Apothecia unknown. Occurs on mossy trees and rocks in damp, undisturbed wooodland. Most frequently recorded from SW Ireland. Chemical reactions negative. Thallus smells of fish when wet. Similar: Sticta fuliginosa and Sticta dufourii Sticta's are members of the Lobarion lichen community, most of which contain a cyanobacterium (blue-green algae) which gives them a brown or greyish colour.

Sticta sylvatica. Ardnagashel, Co.Cork. March 2010