Work in Progress - these pages will take some time (its busy season at my job)

I will be updating this page with codex style entries for some of the most common fungi I find in my part of the world. I'm still deciding how I'd like to arrange it but I'd like for this "virtual herbarium" to include spore prints, microscopy and key characteristics. I'm not an identification expert so the list may be short as I learn.

Thanks for being patient.

Lobaria pulmonaria - Frog's blanket, tree lungwort

Thallus: Foliose, large broad lobes with distinct ridges. Upper cortex is a vivid green when moist, grey to grey-green when dry. Lower cortex typically grey to grey brown. Soredia frequent, located on ridges of upper cortex (3rd picture), isidia common to frequent. Apothecia occasional to common (I have only come across a few colonies producing apothecia), orange brown in colour.

In my neck of the woods, we are fortunate to have an abundance of this striking lichen. L. pulmonaria is often indicative of older forests, a colony must reach an age of about 25 years before they are able to reproduce. There are many uses attributed to this lichen as a medicinal, textile dye and even a substitute for hops in Siberia. Take extreme care when collecting this lichen, L. pulmonaria is critically endangered and protected in many parts of the world. Regardless of it's status in your area, NEVER harvest this lichen from a tree. Always collect this (or any lichen for that matter) from the ground where it has fallen and cannot survive. Lichens are not like mushrooms, when you harvest a lichen you are killing the organism.