Small World Discoveries
by Tony Enticknap - tickspics
Taking a close look at insects and other small species that can be found in and around East Dorset and the New Forest ...
ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > OSTROPALES > Graphidaceae
Genus Graphis, meaning 'writing' from the appearance of the apothecia
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Common name:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Elegant Script Lichen
Synonyms:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Phaeographis ramificans
Habitat:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Woodland and wayside trees
Substrata:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Smooth bark
Growth form:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Corticolous
Thallus: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Crustose
Apothecia:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Lirellate
BLS identity rating:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Graded 2/5 (visual identification possible with care)
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Thallus thin, forming no more than a light coating on the bark, smooth and slightly shiny, although sometimes minutely wrinkled; colour ranging from off-white to pale grey, occasionally with a yellowish, light greenish or brownish tinge.
Lirellae varied in shape and size, straight or curved, seldom branched, normally in the region of just 1-2.5mm long, black, always with the carbonaceous margins raised slightly above the thallus and having several longitudinal furrows that are not always clearly visible, the margins almost meeting at the centre thereby leaving a slit.
Widespread on smooth-barked trees and twigs, mainly in shade.
Holt Heath, Mannington, East Dorset
(photographed in an area of shaded woodland on the edge of the heath)
Ringwood Forest, Verwood, East Dorset
(found on the trunk of a smooth-barked tree alongside a forest track)
Ringwood Forest, Verwood, East Dorset
(close-up shot of the lirellae)
Barrow Moor, Bolderwood, New Forest
(photographed on the trunk of a Beech tree in open woodland)
Holt Heath, Mannington, East Dorset
(photographed in an area of shaded woodland on the edge of the heath)
Garston Wood, Cranborne Chase, East Dorset
(close-up shot of the lirellae)
Garston Wood, Cranborne Chase, East Dorset
(photographed on the trunk of a Hazel tree in lightly shaded woodland)
Garston Wood, Cranborne Chase, East Dorset
(close-up shot of the previous specimen)