John Villella

@jvillella.bsky.social

At home in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon, but wandering further afield. I’m here to share my #lichen photos.

Physconia americana is a common lichen species along the west coast of North America distinguished within the genus by its lobulate apothecia. Seen here growing on Garry Oak in the hills above Gold Hill, Jackson County Oregon.

Lobate apotheciaHabit view of gray green foliose lichen with elongate lobes and central lo ate apothecia

Cetraria sphaerosporella is a species unique to Northwest North America where it commonly grows on whitebark pine, as seen here near Sunrise in Washington’s Mt. Rainier National Park.

Usnic yellow colored foliose lichen with tan apothecia appearing like candle wax over whitebark pine bark

Hypotrachyna sinuosa a widespread species commonly encountered in low elevation riparian forests in the Pacific Northwest, seen here on Oregon ash in a riverside swamp in Lane County, Oregon.

Yellow-green foliose lichen with narrow lobes with terminal soralia and dichotomously branched rhizines

Pannaria oregonensis is a rare species endemic to moist lowland habitats of northwest North America, seen here on Hooker’s willow in a costal dune complex on the central Oregon coast.

Foliose gray-purple pannarioid with red marginate apothecia forming a rosette on a willow branch

Niebla homalea is a somewhat common fruticose lichen on seashore rocks in the fog zone of California found from near the San Francisco Bay Area in the north south through Baja, seen here at Duncan Beach State Park in coastal Sonoma County.

Shrubby gray-white fruticose lichen clustered on seashore rock

Gabura insignis is a unique hypercoastal cyanolichen in the Pacific Northwest distinguished by its wrinkled warty isidiate thallus that greatly expands when wet, seen here in a dry state growing on conifer twigs at the mouth of the Salmon River, Lincoln County Oregon.

Black jelly lichen with warty laminal ididia growing on twigs

Platismatia wheeleri is a common epiphyte of hardwoods in the Mediterranean climate of southwestern Oregon, distinguished among local rag lichens by the sinuous marginal soralia. Seen here on black hawthorn along Babe Creek in the Cascade mountains of Jackson County.

Foliose rag lichen with white upper surface and black underside growing on a twigDetails of lobe margin with sinuose soralia

Letharia columbiana is a common endemic wolf lichen in the inland Northwest. It is distinguished by the chartreuse colored thallus from vulpinic acid and the prominent brown apothecia, seen here near Cottonwood Meadow Lake in Fremont-Winema National Forest, Lake County, Oregon.

Brown apothecia on chartreuse fruticose thallusVulpinic colored lichen on conifer branch

Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis is a specklebelly lichen restricted to ancient stands of old-growth and endemic to the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest, seen here along the Ohanapecosh River, Lewis County, Washington.

Large foliose lichen with strap-like lobes with mint green upper surface, light orangish white underside with white spots (pseudocyphellae) and prolific marginal lobules Large colony of old-growth specklebelly in ancient forest understory

Parmelina coleae is a epiphytic lichen characteristic of the Mediterranean type climate of the California Floristic Province, seen here growing on an ancient Garry oak at the northern edge of its range at Upper Table Rock in Jackson County, Oregon.

White foliose lichen with adnate lobes and large maroon apothecia

Lobaria linita is a conspicuous lungwort lichen of northern forests in western North America seen here at Memorial Beach on Prince of Wales Island in the Tongass National Forest, Alaska.

Large lungwort lichen with green and orangish upper surface color Lungwort with smooth edges and conspicuous scattered orange apothecia

Ricasolia amplissima ssp. amplissima occurs only as a dendriscocauloid cyanomorph in southern Oregon, seen here growing on a horizontal branch of an ancient Garry oak in a lichen rich oak savannah near Antelope Creek in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain of Jackson County.

Fruticose cyanolichen growing among mosses and other lichens Bild

Cetrelia cetrarioides is an uncommon rag lichen living on red alder in low elevation riparian forests in the Pacific Northwest. Distinguished by pseudocyphellae on the upper & lower surfaces & elongate soralia along smooth thallus margins. Seen here along Mill Creek in downtown Turner, Oregon.

White foliose parmelioid lichen with elongate soralia on thallus margins, pseudocyphellae in the form of subtle white dots are found on both the upper and lower surfaces Moist branch dwelling thallus

Nephroma tropicum is a commonly encountered kidney lichen in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, distinguished among local Nephroma species by the abundant marginal lobules. Seen here along the Nisqually River in the Longmire Springs area of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

Foliose cyanolichen with prolific marginal lobules growing on small twigBrownish kidney lichen with marginal lobules growing on small conifer branch

Vulpicida canadensis is a lichen endemic to northwestern North America. Quite common in pine forests east of the Cascade Mountains, it is more localized on the westside, such as the specimen seen here on the branch of an open grown shore pine on Cypress Island, Washington.

Distinctly vulpinic yellow foliose lichen growing on pine branch

Protoparmeliopsis pinguis is a regularly encountered species on the central California coast. A fog moistened thallus is seen here growing on granitic rock at the Bodega Marine Reserve in Sonoma County.

Light yellow bubbly crustose lichen with tan apothecia growing over black and white granitic rock

Solorina crocea is a unique tripartite arctic-alpine pelt lichen whose orange colored medulla is due to an anthraquinone pigment known as solorinic acid. Seen here on an alpine ridge on the flanks of Tahoma near Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

Bild

Ochrolechia upsaliensis is a familiar bryophilous lichen seen here growing over Wallace's spikemoss on an exposed rock outcrop in the upper reaches of the Lake Creek watershed, Jackson County, Oregon

Abundant white apothecia of crustose lichen growing over spikemoss

Lobaria scrobiculata is a distinctly yellowish gray lungwort frequently found on hardwoods in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, seen here on a large old vine maple on a ridge above the McKenzie River in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon

Large yellowish gray foliose lungwort with prolific soralia on the upper surface