Old Garden Wall - Preston Montford Field Centre - Day 3 Late Afternoon of British Lichen Society field Meeting in Shropshire

Having returned  from the Long Mynd early, it is a good opportunity to explore the local surroundings of Preston Montford Field Centre. David Hill takes us to this long brick wall. It is 13 July 2023.

This is Lecanora antiqua.   It grows on mortar and turns C yellow
(It keys out quickly in Dobson. Also from Dobson: Usually very fertile with the apothecia closely grouped. Apothecia to 0.8mm diam, often pruinose. Disc dreamy brown to brown, margin becoming crenulate, excluded when old. Thallus and apothecia C+ yellow (discs deeper orange)

Diploicia canescens

Diploicia canescens

Belonia nidarosiensis

Diplotomma alboatrum

Diplotomma alboatrum

Diplotomma alboatrum  picture 5 mm wide

Diplotomma alboatrum  - picture 5 mm wide

Rinodina olea

Rinodina olea - close up 5mm across

In a copse to the left of the wall was an Oak tree. In cracks in the trunk we found Chaenotheca hispida.  We had to look very very very hard as they are very very tiny.

Chaenotheca hispida

Chaenotheca hispida

THe other went back but I wandered round the grounds a little more. In the field was an Elder bush - femonstarting the high nitrogen of the area

In the garden was a raised bed edge with some Cladonia, probably fimbriata

On some paving flags hosting a drying pole were various lichens including Lecanora muralis - rather simliar to the lichen we had found in the morning on the rock outcrop

Lecanora muralis

On the cement kirb edge in front of our lab is Lecidella stigmatea -foreground

Lecidella stigmatea

Lecidella stigmatea   (Copied from Dobson 2018) : Thallus variable  pale grey green, reddish borwon, or white, areolate cracked or almost evanescent. Apothecia sessile up to 1.5mm diam, Discs plane occasionally becoming convex, very dark brown or black with glossy margins which become excluded.
Epithecium purplish brown. Exciple green in section. Hypothecium colourless to straw coloured.  K+ yellow or K -  . Common on calcareous rocks, cement and mortar.
Often confused with Clausadea monticola which has only orange brown pigment in section, including a dark hypothecium.

This is common over UK.. so I really need to start checking it off in my home square of SD86.

 

The courtyard / pond outside our sleeping quarters was not useful for lichens but..

... the week we were there the raspberries were just perfect.

 Thank you to the Staff at Preston Montford including the cooks and cleaners for making us welcome and providing good food and space.  

Next morning we looked at specimens for a little while, then packed our bags. With torrential solid rain forecast that morning we postponed the planned last morning visit for another year maybe, and made a good start to our respective journeys home.

See more about the British Lichen Society here