thallus
Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...
and bright yellow
apothecia
An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...
, as well as its very small size.
Characteristics
''Candelariella antennaria'' is a
crustose
Crustose is a habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the substrates at all points. ''Crustose'' is found on rocks and ...
lichen best characterized by its yellow
apothecia
An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...
, which make up the majority of the visible lichen. The apothecial disc is a lemon-yellow or orange-yellow, flat, and not exceeding 1 mm in diameter. The disc may test K negative, or reddish. All other spot tests are negative. The thallus is colored gray and scattered, but not granular. The thallus is composed of non-gelatinized and thin-walled
hyphae
A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium.
Structure
A hypha consists of one or ...
that do not form stipes. The lichen is small, which makes it hard to spot.
Habitat
''Candelariella antennaria'' is most often found on tree bark of deciduous trees.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10441421
antennaria
''Antennaria'' is a genus of dioecious perennial herbs in the family Asteraceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with a few species (''A. chilensis'', ''A. linearifolia'', ''A. sleumeri'') in temperate southern South A ...