Sunday 17 March 2013

Lichen in Flower

Picture shows area about 100mm across
Walking across the hills this morning we came across this lichen growing on an exposed area of rock on top of a low knoll.  It had with what appeared to be two sorts of 'flower' on it.

The red structures, according to results from a Google search, here, may be the reproductive organs of the 'British soldier' lichen, Cladonia cristatella, but can someone confirm this; and what are the light-coloured florets to the left of the upper picture?

Taking these pictures opened up a magic world on an almost microscopic level, a world filled with vivid, if tiny splashes of colour on moorland which has been burnt brown by a long winter and a month of 'drought'.

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