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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Apr 9

Cladonia bellidiflora, one of several conspicuous cladonia lichens observed during a recent Northwest Lichenologist foray to a coastal dune ecosystem in Lane County, Oregon.

Bright red apothecia top an usnic yellow Cladonia with a heavily squamulose podetia

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Apr 3

Physconia americana is a common lichen species along the west coast of North America distinguished within the genus by its lobulate apothecia. Seen here growing on Garry Oak in the hills above Gold Hill, Jackson County Oregon.

Habit view of gray green foliose lichen with elongate lobes and central lo ate apothecia

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 31

Cetraria sphaerosporella is a species unique to Northwest North America where it commonly grows on whitebark pine, as seen here near Sunrise in Washington’s Mt. Rainier National Park.

Usnic yellow colored foliose lichen with tan apothecia appearing like candle wax over whitebark pine bark

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 26

Umbilicaria polaris a common rock tripe of high peaks in Oregon, seen here on granite near the peak of Mount Ashland along the Siskiyou Crest in Jackson County.

Gray rock tripe with frosty ridges and small black apothecia

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 22

Hypotrachyna sinuosa a widespread species commonly encountered in low elevation riparian forests in the Pacific Northwest, seen here on Oregon ash in a riverside swamp in Lane County, Oregon.

Yellow-green foliose lichen with narrow lobes with terminal soralia and dichotomously branched rhizines

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 21

Mostly but not strictly, it does occur inland in a few locations on the west slopes of the Cascades

John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 21

Pannaria oregonensis is a rare species endemic to moist lowland habitats of northwest North America, seen here on Hooker’s willow in a costal dune complex on the central Oregon coast.

Foliose gray-purple pannarioid with red marginate apothecia forming a rosette on a willow branch

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 19

Nephroma laevigatum is a conspicuous kidney lichen distinguished by the dark yellow to orange medulla, seen in an Oregon ash swamp near the Row River in Lane County, Oregon.

Foliose cyanolichen with yellow medulla and reddish apothecia on its underside

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 17

Niebla homalea is a somewhat common fruticose lichen on seashore rocks in the fog zone of California found from near the San Francisco Bay Area in the north south through Baja, seen here at Duncan Beach State Park in coastal Sonoma County.

Shrubby gray-white fruticose lichen clustered on seashore rock

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 15

Gabura insignis is a unique hypercoastal cyanolichen in the Pacific Northwest distinguished by its wrinkled warty isidiate thallus that greatly expands when wet, seen here in a dry state growing on conifer twigs at the mouth of the Salmon River, Lincoln County Oregon.

Black jelly lichen with warty laminal ididia growing on twigs

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 14

Platismatia wheeleri is a common epiphyte of hardwoods in the Mediterranean climate of southwestern Oregon, distinguished among local rag lichens by the sinuous marginal soralia. Seen here on black hawthorn along Babe Creek in the Cascade mountains of Jackson County.

Foliose rag lichen with white upper surface and black underside growing on a twig

Details of lobe margin with sinuose soralia

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 12

Letharia columbiana is a common endemic wolf lichen in the inland Northwest. It is distinguished by the chartreuse colored thallus from vulpinic acid and the prominent brown apothecia, seen here near Cottonwood Meadow Lake in Fremont-Winema National Forest, Lake County, Oregon.

Brown apothecia on chartreuse fruticose thallus

Vulpinic colored lichen on conifer branch

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 11

Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis is a specklebelly lichen restricted to ancient stands of old-growth and endemic to the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest, seen here along the Ohanapecosh River, Lewis County, Washington.

Large foliose lichen with strap-like lobes with mint green upper surface, light orangish white underside with white spots (pseudocyphellae) and prolific marginal lobules

Large colony of old-growth specklebelly in ancient forest understory

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 9

Parmelina coleae is a epiphytic lichen characteristic of the Mediterranean type climate of the California Floristic Province, seen here growing on an ancient Garry oak at the northern edge of its range at Upper Table Rock in Jackson County, Oregon.

White foliose lichen with adnate lobes and large maroon apothecia

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 8

Lobaria linita is a conspicuous lungwort lichen of northern forests in western North America seen here at Memorial Beach on Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska.

Large lungwort lichen with green and orangish upper surface color

Lungwort with smooth edges and conspicuous scattered orange apothecia

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 7

Ricasolia amplissima ssp. amplissima occurs only as a dendriscocauloid cyanomorph in southern Oregon, seen here growing on a horizontal branch of an ancient Garry oak in a lichen rich oak savannah near Antelope Creek in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain of Jackson County.

Fruticose cyanolichen growing among mosses and other lichens

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 6

Good question, it can reliably be found about as far south as Eugene, the southern end of the Willamette Valley. It’s a tricky one, good photos are a must, from a quick glance the few California inaturalist observations seem to be either Platismatia wheeleri or Parmotrema, or too blurry to tell

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 6

Cetrelia cetrarioides is an uncommon rag lichen living on red alder in low elevation riparian forests in the Pacific Northwest. Distinguished by pseudocyphellae on the upper & lower surfaces & elongate soralia along smooth thallus margins. Seen here along Mill Creek in downtown Turner, Oregon.

White foliose parmelioid lichen with elongate soralia on thallus margins, pseudocyphellae in the form of subtle white dots are found on both the upper and lower surfaces

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 5

Pannaria rubiginosa is an oceanic cyanolichen seen here in a moist state of hydration in an ancient Atlantic hazel woodland at Burren National Park, Corofin, Co. Clare, Ireland

Gray foliose cyanolichen with red apothecia with white rims

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 4

Nephroma tropicum is a commonly encountered kidney lichen in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, distinguished among local Nephroma species by the abundant marginal lobules. Seen here along the Nisqually River in the Longmire Springs area of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

Foliose cyanolichen with prolific marginal lobules growing on small twig

Brownish kidney lichen with marginal lobules growing on small conifer branch

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 4

Sounds like fun! I’m in, I’ll pick something from the backyard, for easy access

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 3

Tephromela atra var. atra is a conspicuous crustose lichen with a cosmopolitan distribution seen here on coastal rocks at
Trá na bhForbacha, Furbo, County Galway, Ireland

Large white crustose lichen having large black apothecia with thalline margins

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Mar 1

Vulpicida canadensis is a lichen endemic to northwestern North America. Quite common in pine forests east of the Cascade Mountains, it is more localized on the westside, such as the specimen seen here on the branch of an open grown shore pine on Cypress Island, Washington.

Distinctly vulpinic yellow foliose lichen growing on pine branch

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Feb 28

Dirinaria species, epiphytic on manchineel trunk seen here in a beach front forest at Playa Malpaso, Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, México

Foliose lichen with black apothecia with thalline margins

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John Villella @jvillella.bsky.social · Feb 26

Leucodermia leucomelos is a widespread oceanic species seen here in the subtropical laurisilva forest of Quinta do Santo da Serra, Machico, Madeira

Elongated white thallus with long black marginal cilia

Lobe tip bearing soredia on under surface

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