magpie

Photo taken with a cheap digital scope. Soredia are a type of propagule found on lichens. I lichen them to a little 'seedship' made up of a few alga and/or bacteria loosely bound by the hyphae of the fungal partner. These propagules are carried off by wind, water, insects, etc. and contain everything needed to start a new colony if they end up in a suitable habitat. Sometimes soredia are spread out over certain parts of the thallus, but in this case they are being dispersed by the soralia erupting on the ridges of this lichen.

Another type of propagule similar to soredia are isidia. Instead of being a loose bundle, isidia have a cortex encasing the symbiont cells. I imagine this type of propagule lasts longer than one more exposed to the elements. I have always had trouble identifying isidia, I have seen photos of large, warty looking isidia but have yet to see them myself. I'm probably over looking them.

Some of our local Lobaria pulmonaria absolutely thriving in an old growth park. The park is full of these large, gnarly old birch trees and many of them have these massive colonies growing on them. They don't always look like much when desiccated but if you catch them after a rain storm they are stunning. I've read that L. pulmonaria has to live to an age of about 25 years to be able to produce propagules.

Found a few weeks ago, always wondered when these came up in my area.

Spore photo taken at 600x magnification on a Swift 380T.

Not sure how I managed to never hit this species with UV. I would describe the colour as a bright, hot, lipstick pink. I am unsure if this lichen is actually fluorescing or if something else to do with how the pigments show up under UV light - maybe @Sal@mander.xyz would know. Picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Another fun thing about this lichen is its role in dying as a photo oxidizing dye (POD). I have not dyed with this specific lichen but I believe the initial colour produced is a nice pink/mauve, when exposed to sunlight the garment will turn a sort of grey-blue colour. Unfortunately, the effect is not reversible so doesn't act as a 'mood-ring sweater'.

Probably the only Cladonia species I can (somewhat) confidently ID, if I'm wrong please let me know haha. I wish I had more time to sit down and brush up on my microscopy skills. I've come across this Cladonia field guide if any one is interested in a key to Cladonia. I will need to set some time aside to try it out. I have a few spots I frequent where Cladonia cakes every available surface.

Its been raining a lot here so lots of our lichens are brightly coloured and cheery.

I didn't know what this was when I first found it but I thought that it had mycoheterotroph vibes and snapped a photo. iNat confirmed it as Corallorhiza striata. I should have waited a couple days for the flowers to open. Very neat, I will be on the look out for more next season.

I'm not great with crust lichens (or ID in general haha) so don't know where to start with this one. This lichen was found growing on a pressure treated wood fence post so my first impression was that the colour might be the result of copper accumulation from the treatment chemicals. Its also likely (maybe more likely?) that its just a species I haven't come across yet. I haven't really started the ID process and I may not get to it for some time but I'd love to hear other people's thoughts. I didn't have my KOH on me but this area is one I frequent so I will bring it next time and see if I can't get a sample for the microscope.