''Cladonia portentosa'', also known as reindeer lichen or the cream cup lichen, is a light-coloured, fruticose,

cup lichen A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

in the family

Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (''Cladonia'') belong t ...

. A similar-looking species, also known by the common name "reindeer lichen", is ''

Cladonia rangiferina ''Cladonia rangiferina'', also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen (cf. Swedish language, Sw. ''renlav'') or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-colored fruticose lichen, fruticose, Cladonia, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. ...

''.

Description

''Cladonia portentosa'' forms compact interwoven mats up to 6 cm tall. It is richly branched, each branch usually dividing into three but with the penultimate sometimes dividing into two. The branching is at a larger angle than that of ''

''.Dobson, Frank S., ''Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species'', Richmond Publishing, Slough, 5th edn 2005.

Conservation status

As of July 2021, its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

has not been estimated by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. In

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, its conservation status is denoted as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

(DD).

Illustrations

Gilbert, O. 2004.Gilbert, O. 2007. ''Lichens'' Scottish Natural Heritage

References

portentosa Lichen species Lichens described in 1865 {{Lecanorales-stub

Description

Conservation status

See also

Illustrations

References