I know lichen are an aquired taste and people in general prefer the more exotic flowers such as orchids or the more dramatic animals such as birds and I do try an enthse people with these lower organisms which are all too often over looked but I can find little say in support of Placynthium nigrum!

It is a dull, black crust that grows on hard calcarious substrates and so is very common on walls and tombstones. Apart from being black and crusty there is little else one can add really! Looking at it, it is hard to believe it is actually a living thing, it could just be some sort of powder someone dropped accidentally. However, it is a living organism and if you look at under maginifaction it is more interesting. Why not take a look?

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk

This is a lichen we will all have seen but only those with a particular interest will have taken any notice of or given any thought to! Not only is it totally nsignificant to look at it has a very difficult name to say, let alone remember, it is Lecanora conizaeoides.

This does not look like anything other than some boring crusty skin but it is a lichen and is probably our most common lichen at that. Found on tree bark, it is probably most notable on oak trees and there can hardly be an oak tree in Dorset that does not bear some of this lichen on it somewhere. Iy does also occur on walls, racks and even soil.

This was once a very rare species but during the course of the twentieth century it became one of the most common as it is totally impervious to sulphur dioxide and so thrives in polluted areas where it has replaced other lichen that have dwindled.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Ramalina farinacea is one of the most tolerant on lichen species to air polution and, as a result, grows just about anywhere and is one of our more common lichens. In more poluted areas its growth can be stunted but here in Dorset we get lovely ‘flowering’ specimens, especially near the sea.

This is mainly a wwod-based lichen growing on the bark of trees and shrubs and around Poole Harbour you can see Blackthorn absolutely covered in it; an amazing site. The best place I know is at Swineham Point on tthe Wareham channel.

It does grow on rocks too but much is much less common on the rocky sea shore where it gives way to a couple of its close relatives.

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Whilst many Cladonia species of lichen produce cups this one, Cladonia coniocraea produces simple tube-like structure from which to release its spores. These tubes often bend over at the tops.
The lichen itself is a similar grey/green scaly fomation like its close cousins fimbriata and pyxidata but this one had a particular preference for rotting wood and is not usually found on soil or amongst moss, other than moss growing on rotting timbers of course!
This is one of the few Cladonia species that is resistant to pollution and often it is the only Cladonia to be found in wooded areas in towns and cities. It is very commo everywhere but easily overlooked.

The ‘golf tee’ shape fruiting bodies are indicative of the Cladonia lichens and various species can be found on Dorset heathland and in woodland. Fimbriata favours rotting tree stumps and bare earth where the crusty foudation of the lichen covers the surface and the ‘pegs’ shoot up from that.

On fimbriata the stem of the peg is very slender before opening out into the cup, its very close relative, Cladonia pyxidata, has much a much more cone like shape.

Quite common yet usually passed by wothout a second look which is a shame as closer inspoection shows them to be fascinating.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk

When walking on heathland you often find amongst the heathers a patch where grass and moss becomes dominant and, amongst the moss, you may find these small golf tees sticking up.

The ‘golf tees’ are fairly typical fruiting bodies of the Cladonia genus of lichens and there are a number of species, some more common than others. In drier areas then pyxidata is the most likely to be found. Pyxidata is a common species and is also identifiable by the brown rim to its cups, these are the actual places the spores are produced from.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Here is a common site on brick buildings and walls as well as on roofing tiles and even roofing felt, Candelariella aurella. This is a mustard coloured lichen that grows outwards in a oval shape, gradually expanding in size as it grows. Once it gets established those dish-shaped discs appear which are the fruiting bodies from which the tiniest of spores are released.

It does no harm to its substrate (or the building in general) but it is tempting to clean it off which is a shame as it is easy to forget it is a living organism that takes years to grow to any size. In any event, it is so successful in its environment you will soon have some more to replace it.

It is very common in the south (and so it is in Dorset) and east of England as it is relatively polution tolerant. There are a couple of other similar species but they are less common on brickwork.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk

I always think that this lichen looks like a child has been drawing with a pencil on the bark of the tree (purely as my drawing ability is so poor and it looks my attempt at drawing but would not want anyone to know!). The lichen forms a crust on the bark of a tree and have blackish edges which merge together to form a larger mass giving the impression continuous wiggly lines. In the centre of each distinct area there are black specs, some more pronounced than others.
Pretty common in south western Britain it grows on all kinds of trees and also on fences. It shows up best on the light coloured, smooth bark of willows and Sallow as well as Silver Birch. It is quite common if you take the trouble to look for it!
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Pale, smooth barked trees often have pale grey or greenish patches with little black specs in the middle of them. This is not a bark blemish but a living lichen.
Called Opegrapha atra it is the commonest of the family of six British species and possibly the easiest to identify becuase of these patches that enclose the central speeckled marks. Silver birch and members of the willow family are the favoured host trees for atra but it also, very occassionally, occurs on fence posts too.
Not much to look at perhaps but nice to know what it is when you see it all the same!
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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Until I happened to be looking for a lichen I had seen in my reference book and stumbled across something called Graphis scripta I had always assumed that the black marks you often see on Silver Birch bark were just blemishes in the bark itself! How wrong I was.

These black marks or, indeed, a lichen that is common on smooth barked trees but it shows up best against the pale coloured silver birch.

Common across the country, as well as Dorset, it has a close cousin, Graphis elegans, and they are very hard to tell apart but I believe this to be scripta but if you think I am wrong please let me know!

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at my website www.natureofdorset.co.uk