A podetium (plural: podetia) is the upright secondary

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 ...

in ''

Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.stalk extending from the primary thallus. Podetia can be pointed stalks,

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

like, cupped, or

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

ed in shape and may or may not contain the

ascocarp 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 m ...

, the fruiting body, of the lichen. It is not considered part of the primary thallus as it is a fruiting structure for

reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual or ...

. A lichen can be described as "podetiate" when it forms a podetium.

References

{{reflist Fungal morphology and anatomy