ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > LECANORALES > Cladoniaceae

Common name: -

Synonyms: -  

Habitat:                           Heathland, bogs

Substrata:                       Acid peaty soil, damp lignum

Growth forms:               Terricolous, lignicolous                   

Basal thallus:                  Squamulose

Secondary thallus:         Podetia, very short, infrequent

Apothecia:                     Lecideine, red fruits

BLS identity rating:        Graded 2/5 (visual identification relatively easy with care)

Basal squamules to 4mm dia., dominant and usually numerous, forming cushions; crenulate incised and often distorted; upper surface yellowish grey-green, sometimes tinged orange at the point of attachment, underside white-greenish; usually conspicuously covered with farinose-granular sorediate below, occasionally also above.

Podetia infrequent to rare, very short to 5mm tall, mostly deformed, unbranched or distortedly branched, can appear somewhat flattened; emerging from or produced as an extension of a squamule; with a partly corticate-granular surface.

Apothecia red, frequent, very small, usually sessile on the upper surface and extended margins of the squamules or, more rarely, on podetia; pycnidia rare, tiny, more or less spherical, brown-red turning darker brown, usually on the basal squamules.

Cladonia incrassata is a scarce, rarely recorded species. Distribution is widespread, but very local and patchy. On southern heathland it typically occurs on eroded or naturally slumping banks or occasionally on stumps or logs. It favours acid peaty soil and can be found on old cut surfaces of peat.

It is probably a very over-looked species as, in many situations, it would be hard to spot. Fortunately, the specimen featured here was growing on a half-submerged rotting log in an undisturbed boggy area a little way off the main path which, despite it being only 3 or 4cm across, made it stand out. For information, Ebblake Bog is an acid mire in the upper valley of the Moors River. Valley mires are rare habitats in lowland England, mostly occurring in the New Forest and a few sites around the Poole Basin. Ebblake Bog is on the border of East Dorset and Hampshire. It adjoins conifer woodland managed by the Forestry Commission. One of the main differences from similar habitat in the New Forest is that Ebblake Bog is ungrazed by cattle or ponies and has been for the past hundred years or more. It is a designated SSSI (site of special scientific interest).