ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > LECANORALES > Parmeliaceae

Genus Cetraria, meaning 'shield' - apparently, from the shape of the apothecia

Common name:            Iceland Lichen

Synonym:                    Centria islandica var.platyna

Habitat:                         Montane

Substrata:                     Soil

Growth form:                Terricolous

Thallus:                  Foliose

Apothecia:                    -

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

Thallus only loosely attached to the substratum, shrubby, strap-like, forming dense tufts up to 6cm high or straggling entangled mats; lobes long, thin, curled inwards and deeply incised; upper surface shiny, warm to reddish-brown, darker towards the base, more grey-green to olive-brown in some climates, lower surface usually concolourous or paler with large, roughly oval, white pseudocyphellae; apothecia very rare.

In Britain, common on ericaceous heaths in the Scottish Highlands, far less common further south, declining in many areas, although still recorded from a few heathland sites. In Austria, where the following photo was taken, it is listed as an "arctic- alpine to boreal-montane species that's found on mineral and organic soil, often amongst thick moss carpets, exceptionally on bark or lignum near the ground; common and widespread throughout the Alps".