Lichen (Cladonia pyxidata)

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.

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

Comments