Lichens; Mosses, Liverworts & Hornworts
Lichens
Sighting 4587007

Unverified

Can you identify this sighting?

Unverified at suppressed - suppressed
Unverified at suppressed - suppressed
Request use of media

Identification history

Lichenomphalia chromacea 19 Aug 2024 WendyEM
Unverified 18 Aug 2024 WendyEM

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

3 comments

Heino1 wrote:
   19 Aug 2024
This is the lichen species Lichenomphalia chromacea. A lichen is a partnership between a fungus and an alga or a cyanobacterium and in most species the fungal and algal (or cyanobacterial) cells and reproductive structures are very closely united. Here, the yellow mushrooms are where the fungal partner of this lichen produces sexual spores. The rest of the lichen (the thallus) is on the soil where fungal filaments are intertwined with algal cells. On the soil you see what looks like a green wash. If you took some of that green wash and looked at it under a microscope (at a few hundred times magnification) you'd see the fungal and algal cells. In most lichens the fungal partner's reproductive structures are more tightly bound to the thallus.
WendyEM wrote:
   19 Aug 2024
Thank you. In deep brain recesses I had the memory this was a lichen or moss associate. I kept looking in the wrong place for more info. Thank you so much for the details. Could these - sighting 4578813, 4578811, 4587036, 4587037 - be the same thing? or is Lichenomphalia chromacea smaller, less fleshy and occurs only on more open/bare ground ?
Heino1 wrote:
   19 Aug 2024
4578811, 4587036, 4587037 - not the same. I had wondered about 4578813 when I first saw the photo - but with so much moss around it's hard to say. It's certainly easiest to recognize this species when you can see the algal wash over the surrounding soil. You can see a variety of photos here: https://canberra.naturemapr.org/species/7690. There are also non-lichenized fungi that produce with similarly coloured mushrooms.

Please Login or Register to comment.

Sighting information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
829,467 sightings of 22,836 species from 14,345 members
CCA 3.0 | privacy
NatureMapr is developed by at3am IT Pty Ltd and is proudly Australian made