Sunday 22 April 2018

Lichen on the Blean


It seemed to be quite a coincidence that I stopped to take a photo of a fairly obvious lichen that proved to be one of the key species noted in the area, Thelotrema lepadinum. There are about 20 official records in TR on the NBN database, all in The Blean or down towards Mersham.

It has an unusual appearance as the apothecial bounday membrane is separated from the thallus wall, and appears as a papery membrane inside the throat of the volcano-like apothecia. It is regarded in East Kent as an indicator of an ancient woodland site - possibly. There are no records from West Kent at present. It is much commoner in the north and west of the UK.


The above photo was taken from quite a large well-established patch.

Here is a newer patch appearing on a fairly smooth-barked tree:


No comments:

Post a Comment