A lichen - Peltigera membranacea - geograph.org.uk - 961132

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: English: A lichen - Peltigera membranacea. The orange-brown discs are the spore-producing structures (apothecia). The pale underside of the lichen was covered in a prominent pattern of raised white veins. Pale rhizines (root-like structures) can also be seen projecting from the underside. This lichen was growing on the moss-covered base of a tree, just inside the woods. Its upper surface is "bullate" (i.e., covered in blister-like bumps that correspond to the pattern of veins underneath); contrast the smooth upper surface of another very common lichen of this genus: 936434. Another species, P. canina, is somewhat similar, but is "much rarer than P. membranacea and found mainly on rather basic impoverished dunes and sandy soils" [F.S.Dobson, "Lichens – An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species"]. P. membranacea and P. hymenina are among the fewer than 10% of lichens that contain cyanobacteria rather than algae; they both contain Nostoc, the most common cyanobacterial genus occurring in lichens. Nostoc is also found as a free-living organism, occurring as gelatinous sheets, or in other forms; see 1470400. Date: 5 September 2008. Source: From geograph.org.uk. Author: Lairich Rig. Attribution(required by the license)Lairich Rig / A lichen - Peltigera membranacea / CC BY-SA 2.0. Lairich Rig / A lichen - Peltigera membranacea. Camera location55° 59′ 59″ N, 4° 37′ 40″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 55.999700; -4.627900. Object location55° 59′ 59″ N, 4° 37′ 40″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 55.999610; -4.627800.