#ramalina americana

[cedar-glade]

Finally found this lichen in one of the barrens in Kentucky, I’ve found it multiple times growing on landscape trees and producing ascoma to the point where they are studded, never have found a decent sized one outside of cultivated trees from down south that end up in yards in Ohio. 

Here is one laying among the debris in one of the barren openings in Northern Kentucky, Ramalina americana, in-situ, Reticulate thallus grooves and all! 

This species is one of the single coolest looking lichens on the planet, attached at one small hold fast point and capable of being very large. With that said, Ramalina spp. (sinew lichens) and Lobaria spp. (lobe worts) both known for reticulate thallus growth and are both known for being increadible to see, ide love to meet them all one day.  Do your self a favor, google Ramalina menziesii.

Shots are from my scope at home pencil tip for scale. Ascoma in the form of apothecia are produced in mass, the lip tends to have less photobiont association and because of this is somewhat white to translucent tinted. 

Reticulate growth pattern causes groove like thallus formations. 

Many ascoma seem to form primarily at the tips prior to the rest of the thallus. In the middle row to the right we can see these tip ascoma forming their shape. this is a bit after true primordia. 

bottom left shows side profile for scale on newly formed ascoma. Bottom right and below text show you the density of meiotic sacs/ asci. Usually paraphysen are often 1/3 the size of the imbedded asci, so each dimple you see can be thought of as a section of the tip of 1 paraphysen. 

Paraphysen are erect sterile hyphae, in many cases they are tube like or  filament like fungal bodies with little space in-between each wall. These act as support structures, occurring among the ascoma of ascomycota including these lichens.

[lichenaday]

Ramalina americana

images: source | source