ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > LECANORALES > Cladoniaceae

Common name:             Trumpet Cup Lichen

Synonyms:                     -

Habitat:                           Varied

Substrata:                      Rotting wood, enriched soil

Growth forms:               Lignicolous, terricolous       

Basal thallus:                  Squamulose

Secondary thallus:         Podetia, 'wineglass-shaped' cups

Apothecia:                     Lecideine, brown fruits, infrequent

BLS identity rating:        Graded 2/5 (relatively straightforward with care)

Basal squamules numerous, but rather small and inconspicuous; green in colour, round to elongate, incised and sometimes slightly sorediate.

Podetia up to 15mm tall, slender, somewhat variable, but usually expanding quite abruptly to regular 'wineglass-shaped' cups; the margin of the scyphi, which are usually 3-5mm dia., sometimes dentate, but never proliferating; the whole of the podetia, including the base and inside the cups, covered in delicate, grey-greenish, farinose soredia without corticate granules.

Apothecia and pycnidia are infrequent but, where present, brown, on scyphi margins; apothecia sessile or shortly stalked.

Cladonia fimbriata occurs in various habitats, growing on rotten wood, soil enriched with ligneous debris, and with mosses on recently disturbed sites; also, on old walls and occasionally on heathland and dunes.

It can be confused with Cladonia chlorophaea except, in that species, the podetia tend to be a little more robust with a progressive, rather than abrupt, transition between the stalk and the normally slightly bigger scyphi, thereby giving the podetia, on side view, a 'funnel-like' appearance; additionally, the surface of the podetia has a much rougher look, as it is generally covered with coarse granular soredia as opposed to fine, 'flour-like' farinose soredia - the difference, similar to comparing normal granulated sugar to caster sugar.

The shape and appearance of Cladonia cups is often likened to either a 'wineglass' as in this species where the 'stem' distinctly widens, or to a traditional old 'goblet' where the 'stem' flares out, as in the Cladonia chlorophaea complex, but personally I think the analogy is down to interpretation as 'goblets' come in many different shapes and styles.