#Pentagenella

[lichenaday]

Pentagenella fragillima

The term “fruticose” can be confusing. You might expect a fruticose lichen to look, well, fruit like! But fruticose, at least in regard to lichens, means that it just grows in 3 dimensions--it’s not flat like leaves or crusts, as other lichens are. And while this can be confusing since all lichens grow in 3 dimensions--that’s like, our perception of reality--you can really tell what they mean when looking at the round, tubular branches of P. fragillima. This fruticose lichen has pale brown, fragile, flat or cylindrical lobes growing in tangled tufts. It either has sessile apothecia, or is sterile and produces soredia. It colonizes rocks and branches near the sea in Chile. It is very rarely found and collected, so the information on this species is extremely limited, so I am just a happy that a few pictures of it exist on the internet at all! 

images: source

info: source

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