Peter Braubach

Link to a full apothecium composite image (60xW/2x mag changer)

A couple of dark pigmented ascospores with an even darker band running across the septum.

Section of apothecium in water with pigmented spores.

grey lichen thallus with black apothecia, some with thalline margin

Pigmented 2-celled ascospores with a black band over the septum points me towards Rinodina bischoffii - on limestone from the old quarry in northern Hessia I've visited this summer. #Lichen

How big is it? Perhaps the size of a medium boulder?

Wet

Dry

Sectioned dry apothecium

Sectioned wet apothecium.

Regarding immersion depth. The apothecia are thin (dry) and sit in pits, some nearly flush to the substrate, some protruding. Wetted they turn brown ever so slightly and swell to convex.

Maybe this information helps to clarify the points you raised. Thank you for putting in time to this.

Section through a piece of the black crust showing green algea enveloped in hyphae. Topped of by black cells.

Other part with no green algea.

Overview.

Thank you for your comments Anthony! I went through similar thoughts and initially worked on this with the hypothesis of a cyanolichen. When sectioning the very brittle flakes you get a lichenized crust - I am not sure if the black is caused by pigmented algae (or cyanos) on top. What do you think?

I'm not asking for species ID - I just want to get some idea what kind of organism this is. Some kind of truffle? @hilaryrosed.bsky.social

Two black shiny structures protruding between moss in sandy soil. Approximately 1 mm in diameter.

Cut surface of black globular structure, homogeneously black with grainy texture.

squished microscopic preparation with large air bubbles, black fungal? elements and small oil droplets.

I have no clue what I found here, on sandy soil (in shaded forest) between moss. Small round spherules, heavily melanized all throughout. Cut surface grainy. On microscopic view (squash) some oil bubbles and hyphae but no spores or other features I could identify. What is this?

Ap cross section in water

Apothecium side with large cells.

Spores in water

Maybe (!) a slight brown tinge in the ap. centre when wetted. Large-ish elipsoid spores ~25x9 µm and pigmented epihymenium and thallus. Green algae. C-.

I think this could be Clauzadea metzleri.

What do you think?

"Birds eye" view of the black flaky lichen on limestone next to verrucaria nigrescens (right) and Verrucaria muralis (bottom left) and Sarcogyne pruinosa (top centre)

Overview of thallus (dry)

Wet thallus and apothecia.

I would like to share a #lichen I am working on for the last 2 nights (not finished yet) and would appreciate some input.
On soft limestone with V. muralis, V. nigrescens and S. pruinosa. Black flaky thallus and black adpressed to slightly immeresed apothecia, swelling convex when wet. 1/

Grey green thallus of a lichen with pin shaped apothecia with fluffy top.

Section of an apothecium in water with the spores washing off.

Detail of the algea, rectangular and green.

Detail of the spores, golden brown, round (in water)

Never gets old - Pin #lichen Chaenotheca trichialis with some pruina on the stalk and around the base of the head. Rectangular green algae (Stichococcus) and globose pigmented spores.

Collected today on oak bark on a playground near Hannover.

Cells

I guess if you set the frequency just right it might destroy them... xkcd.com/1217

Detail view of white lichen thallus with immersed black apothecia (Circinaria calcarea)

3 orange apothecia of Protoblastenia rupestris.

Areolate lichen crust with dark olive colour and black perithecia (Verrucaria nigrescens)

Some common lichens on calcareous rock - Circinaria calcarea, Protoblastenia rupestris and Verrucaria nigrescens. #lichen

Irgendwann wird man hier halt sesshaft. Aber ja so könnte man es ausdrücken.

Bleib doch einfach hier... Hannover ist doch nicht so schlimm. Nach 10 Jahren hat man sich auch dran gewöhnt.

Kalanchoe leaf, 100X.

Diffusion Diffusion Diffusion
Lots of technical fiddling going on recently so not much entomology posting, but something worthwhile from my setup experimentation. Learn more: ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2025/09/diff...
#macrophotography #macro #microscopy

This reminds me that I have to find a diffusion solution for my stereo microscope ring light. Or cross polarization...

Small kid looking into a big stereo microscope

The difference between men and boys... is not fully compensated by the tilting ergo tube of the new stereo microscope and he still has to sit on my lap to reach viewing height.

A colony of calicioid fungi on some exposed rotten wood, most with yellow rings around their stipitate apotheciate named Calicium trabinellum. The ones which lack yellow rings are much thicker and are a different species.

"Dead" wood

Misidentifying Lichens - Coenogonium pineti (#218) back to index

Microscopy images can be found here:

sites.google.com/view/misiden...

Green lichen with cream colored apothecia on brown flakey bark of pine.

Detail of translucent cream colored apothecia with a distinct margin.

Coenogonium pineti (Ach.) Lücking & Lumbsch - a green #lichen with pale translucent apothecia commonly found on bark of pine. Watch out for dark green patches in fissures and under flakes of bark. The apothecia are tiny (0,1-0,4mm) and most of those which I found only have few.

green squamuels of Normaninda pulchella lichen on algae and moss covered bark

"Hamsteroortjes" #lichen Normandina pulchella . Somehow you just have to take a photo when you see them.

Looks like isida to me. Rest is beyond recognition.

Composite image of apothecium and thallus in water combinde from several microscopy images.

High res image to pan and zoom around.

I would like some feedback on those (as they are labor intensive to make). Do you enjoy them? Are they of added value?

drive.google.com/file/d/1FbRX...

C+ red reaction.

Tip of ascus with K/I+ semilunar shape.

Swollen paraphyse tips with pigment.

Spore in water. 11x5 µm

Epihymenium and thalline margin are pigmented and react C+ red. Asci of lecidea type. I think this could be either Lecidea fuscoatra or L. grisella but with no real developt thallus I am unable to differentiate or to confirm this.

Maybe some of you have thoughts. How would you call this #lichen?

Black apothecia and brown-grey discontinuous lichen crust on stone.

I collected one sample on the last excursion that is giving me some troubles. It grows in the fissures of an boulder (siliceous) in heathland. The thallus is reduced to subsquamoulouse flecks an it has few small lecideine apothecia.

I have a high res composite microscopy for P. uliginosa - the space between the lichen blastitida is filled by algea with gelantious matrix.
drive.google.com/file/d/1xID6...

P. oligotropha

P. uliginosa

Low power comparison.

Lichen on heathland soil with larger light brown blastidiate thallus and black apothecia.

Lichen on heathland soil with small dark brown blastidiate thallus and black apothecia.

Placynthiella oligotropha and P. uliginosa - both terricolous in heathland in comparison #lichen.

P. oligotropha has a lighter thallus with larger blastidia.

Ascospores

Conidia

Details of ascospores and conidia.

Lichen with black apothecia on lignum.

Detail of stalked pycnidium

Apothecial section with grey-black pigment.

Pigment turns violet in K (squish)

Micarea misella #lichen on conifer lignum (overgrown by some Lepraria sp.?).

Typical stalked and sometimes branched pycnidia and violet reaction to K in the gray pigment.