Image of Lathagrium cristatum

Description:

Slo.: ? - syn.: Collema cristatum (L.) Weber ex F.H. Wigg., Collema multifidum (Scop.) Rabenh - Habitat: steep mountain slope, south-southeast aspect, calcareous ground, open place, full sun, exposed to direct rain, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 5-6 deg C, elevations 790 m (2.600 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: calcareous rock in a vertical, stony, manmade road scarp. Comment: Abundant large, reddish-brown, up to 5 mm in diameter apothecia, only sparsely present isidia (see picture 2 lower right) and typical substratum support the determination Lathagrium cristatum. Pictures were taken after a prolonged rainy period. Hence the thallus is waterlogged. Characteristically, the lobes of Lathagrium cristatum do not swale much as with most of other Collema species. The largest thallus had 18 cm in diameter. No chemical tests and microscopy have been done; therefore the determination remains to some extent questionable. Ref.: (1) C.W.Smith, et all, The lichens of Great Britain and Ireland,The British Lichen Society,(2009), p 351. (2) V. Wirth, Die Flechten Baden-Wrttembergs, Teil.1., Ulmer (1995), p 355. (3) F.S. Dobson, Lichens, The Richmonds Publishing Ca.LTD (2005), p 152. (4) I.M. Brodo, S.D. Sharnoff, S.Sharnoff, Lichens of North America, Yale Uni. Press (2001), p 284. (5) http://www.lichens.lastdragon.org/Collema_cristatum.html (6) http://www.stridvall.se/lichens/gallery/Collema/BBBB4229