Plants of the Gila Wilderness
Presented in Association with the
Western New Mexico University Department
of Natural Sciences
Candelariella antennaria Räsänen
Pussytoes Egg Yolk Lichen
Candelariella antennaria is a small lichen that grows on bark. It is rather inconspicuous even with its bright yellow tiny apothecia. The thallus is gray, and about the same color as the bark. Initially, it looks rather like a Caloplaca, but it is completely negative in KOH, unlike the reddish purple color that Caloplaca exhibits in KOH. The spores are oblong. The apothecia contain green photobiont in the walls.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Candelariella antennaria, macro, growing on Quercus grisea bark, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, April 2, 2018
Candelariella antennaria, photomicrograph, growing on Quercus grisea bark, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, April 2, 2018
Candelariella antennaria, photomicrograph showing green photobiont in apothecium, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, April 2, 2018
Candelariella antennaria, photomicrograph of negative KOH reaction, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, April 2, 2018
Candelariella antennaria, photomicrograph of oblong ascospores, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, April 2, 2018
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