Ascomycete, apothecia

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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Ken Ramos
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Ascomycete, apothecia

Post by Ken Ramos »

Image

Image

Meiji EMZ-13TR

Apothecia are disc shaped fruiting bodies with a fertile center. This fertile center is known as the hymenium. Surrounding the hymenium is the exiple, the wall of the apothecia, outside of this is the thallus of the lichen.

beetleman
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Location: Southern New Hampshire USA

Post by beetleman »

Beautiful shots Ken. What substrate is the specimen on..wood or stone? :-k
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

These were growing on a dead, slick barked, hardwood tree limb. I took my pocket knife and cut the section away to bring home for my new lichen collection. The radial pattern displayed by this lichen was quite beautiful, it really makes you think or at least it does me, about how artistic nature really is and how something so small and wonderful can just be casually ignored. The whole lichen is about 22.5 cm X 21 cm, almost perfectly circular. The apothecia or apothecium are clustered in the center of the lichen. I also noticed that there are numerous other lichen speceis growing on this section of dead wood also, showing that at least those specimens are not limited to growing on one particular substrate, however, there are a few lichens that are. :D

Image

beetleman
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Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:19 am
Location: Southern New Hampshire USA

Post by beetleman »

Thanks for the extra info Ken....Very nice find. I am assuming that the branch was still on the tree or had just fallen off. I think once they fall from the tree, different fungi and stuff would start attacking the wood.
Take Nothing but Pictures--Leave Nothing but Footprints.
Doug Breda

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

Yes it was still on the tree there Doug. Your right, had it fallen off various other forms of fungi would have started growing on it and it would have become infested with ants, other ground dwelling insects and hords of Springtails. Sometimes however, one can find jelly fungi on rotting wood that is lying around on the ground. I believe there are some jelly fungi that are associated with lichens but I am not positive. Though these jelly fungi would, I assume, be hard to preserve in a collection, I suppose a simple photograph of the specimen would have to suffice. :D

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