Order: Lecanorales       Family: Ramalinaceae Species: Solenopsora holophaea Growth type squamulose. Photos: On coastal rock. Bantry area, Cork, SW Ireland. Thallus of overlapping brownish-beige squamules that become greener when wet, underside with pale rhizines. Sessile chestnut to blackish apothecia become convex with margins +/- excluded. Asci are 8-spored, the spores colourless, 1-septate, 12-18 x 4-5 µm. Micrograph below. Coastal on damp, shaded, often vertical mortar and soft rocks. Also on soil and in crevices. Chemical reactions negative. Similar: Psora lurida, on limestone and calcareous rocks and soil and Squamarina cartilaginea, mainly on coastal limestone

Micrograph

Solenopsora holophaea. December 2008 and June 2009