What we had previously thought was
Phaeophyscia hirsuta is actually
Physciella chloantha! All my old commentary about
hirsuta still applies though, except that
chloantha is definitely not under conservational danger. The lichenologist I sent my samples to has declared that
chloantha is rarely collected from California; mine is the first ever record from Los Angeles County and also highly unusual for being on an eucalyptus tree! Clearly lichens are just as scientifically unpopular as bugs; how else could a popular park filled with tons of
chloantha escape researcher attention?
By the way, the
chloantha samples I kept for cultivation purposes all developed moldy smells, despite the thalli appearing quite healthy; I had to throw them out. The wild yellow tree lichens suffered a similar fate, except that I was unable to throw out the tree. Even the lichenless tree parts smell terrible when moistened; how is a living branch growing mold?
Here are some microscope pics of
chloantha the lichenologist sent me and gave permission to use; as mentioned before, gray thalli are dry and turn green seconds after hydration.
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