ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > LECANORALES > Cladoniaceae

Genus Cladonia, meaning 'branch or twig-like' - specifically relating to these richly branched species

Common name:             Coral Moss (occasionally used to differentiate from Reindeer Moss)  

Synonyms:                     -

Habitat:                           Dry or calcareous grassland, some acid heathland and dunes

Substrata:                       Well-drained, base rich soil

Growth forms:               Terricolous              

Basal thallus:                  Squamulose

Secondary thallus:         Podetia

Apothecia:                     Very rare

BLS identity rating:        Graded 1/5 (identification should be straightforward)

The basal thallus comprises small squamules that have a grey-greenish upperside and whitish underside, but are more often absent as they soon vanish as the lichen starts to mature.

Podetia richly branched, forming spiky tufts up to 60mm tall, often isolated with a 'hedgehog-like' hemispherical shape, or otherwise somewhat intermingled with other lichen species, such as Cladonia portentosa, or amongst low vegetation; the branches which usually, but not always, have closed axils, diverge at an acute angle, terminating in mainly bifid, sometimes trifid, pointed apices without cups.   

The upper surface of the podetia is corticate, with older growth being distinctly mottled with greyish-green to bright green areolate patches of algae on a pale creamy background, often described as looking like the skin pattern of a giraffe's neck.   

Apothecia are very rare but, where present, small and brown at the apices, sometimes more or less corymbose (the definition of which, in this context, I'm not too sure about), but never split; pycnidia, also brown, tiny at the apices and frequent.

Cladonia rangiformis is often referred to as a 'false reindeer moss' due to the superficial resemblance with both Cladonia portentosa and Cladonia ciliata, but can usually be easily distinguished by the smooth, rather than slightly felty cortex surface, coupled with the distinctive mottled pattern. It could also be confused with Cladonia furcata, but that species is typically darker or more brownish, with a surface that is not so obviously areolate, and also with fewer, less divergent, branches. 

The species is relatively common and widespread, occurring primarily on neutral to basic dry soils in a range of habitats, but particularly on grassland; along well-drained road verges; areas where there has been infill, such as over broken-up concrete from old air strips or military installations; some acid heathland and, quite frequently, on coastal dunes.

The photos below from Blashford, situated on the edge of the New Forest, were taken in an area that has been developed to promote lichen growth that is over an old sandpit that was infilled with washed waste sand and then sown with grass seed back in 1992. It is now partly within the Blashford Lakes nature reserve and partly within the compound of a water treatment works. It's good to see that Hampshire Wildlife Trust, who own the reserve, are still actively monitoring and managing the area. The substrate is nutrient impoverished and heavily grazed by rabbits.