Lichens.ie - lichens of Ireland project

Lecanora zosterae plays tricks with the eyes, especially when found in abundance on the dead stems of the Sea Pink Armeria maritima. One moment you see it and just as quickly it dissolves leaving you struggling to catch a glimpse of it on the dried stems of a Sea Pink in your hand. Part of this enigma is explained by the thallus losing itself in the dried stems (immersed); part is explained by the similarly coloured apothecial discs. read more

The aptly titled text ‘The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland’ has been published (May 2009). This is the second edition; the last edition, published in 1992 was titled ‘The Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland’. After much discussion the term ‘flora’ was dropped from this new edition. It is a much needed update due to the still growing advances in lichenology in the last 17 years. Over 385 new species have been added with many species names updated to reflect current taxonomic changes. read more

On March 9th, 2009 President Barack Obama lifted George Bush’s ban on using US taxpayers’ money to fund stem cell research. As a thank you to President Obama, Kerry Knudsen named a newly discovered lichen Caloplaca obamae. The new species was discovered by Kerry on Pleistocene soils on Santa Rosa Island. The name Caloplaca is derived from Greek meaning beautiful shield or patches. Ireland has about 40 Caloplaca species. read more

Ireland’s fastest growing lichen is the tree lungwort. Found in restricted areas of the West of Ireland it grows at a rate of 4 mm a year reaching sizes of 18 cm long by 3 cm wide. Its scientific name is Lobaria pulmonaria. Typically found on rowan, hazel and willow, its sensitivity to SO2 and shrinking habitat are placing it under threat in Ireland. Ireland needs to categorise this lichen as Nationally Scarce and take on International Responsibility for it. This specimen was photographed on a tree cut down in one of our National Parks.