Irish lichens

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden-eye lichen
Order: Teloschistales       Family: Teloschistaceae

Species: Teloschistes chrysophthalmus

Growth type fruticose.
Photos: On well-lit Hawthorn twig. County Cork, SW Ireland.

Thallus forms small, compact tufts. Flattened, radiating, irregularly branched lobes, upper surface yellow-orange, lower surface greyish. Soralia absent. Usually abundantly fertile, the bright orange discs are surrounded by conspicuous, eye-lash like fibrils. The asci are 8-spored, spores polarilocular, 10-15 x 5-8 µm. Micro photos below, showing the granular epithecium and trebouxioid photobiont.

Mediterranean species found on sheltered, nutrient-rich, well-lit twigs. Rare but increasingly found in the south of Ireland. K+ purple

Similar: Teloschistes flavicans


Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden-eye lichen

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden-eye lichen

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden-eye lichen

Microscope photographs
Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, epithecium

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, photobiont
Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden-eye lichen. November 2009

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