Remember that I am not in any way a lichen expert. This is just my notes of what I have had IDed for me over the years as I photograph lichens.
Tree Trunk Lichens (roughly in the order that I learned them)
Common Greenshield (Flavoparmelia caperata):
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Big, greenish circles, often 6 inches in diameter but varying in size.
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Greener than most other lichen
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No discs (apothecia)
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/254501644/large.jpeg)
Rough Speckled Shield Lichen (Punctelia rudecta):
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big, grayish circles, often 6 inches in diameter but varying in size.
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White dots all over the lichen.
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Center is rougher and browner than edge, with tiny lumps (isidia)
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/344169139/large.jpeg)
Candleflame Lichen (Candelaria concolor):
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yellow specks
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looking closely, they always have an actual thallus, branching leaf-like form
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not a particular shape, just patches that blend into one another
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/345608857/large.jpeg)
Rosette lichen (Physcia millegrana)
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lots of little gray-green flakes.
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no real shape, but they cover much of the background of many tree trunks.
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Often has round reporductive discs (apothecia)
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/95744343/large.jpeg)
Orange-Cored Shadow Lichen (Phaeophyscia rubropulchra):
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very dark gray, hard to see against most bark
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largely oval in outline but generally two inches or less in diameter
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very divided thallus
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orange if you break it open
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/107645245/original.jpeg)
Hammered Shield Lichen (Parmelia sulcata):
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Gray colored, generally smaller than common or rough speckled.
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surface covered in dents, somewhat like it's been beaten with a ball-peen hammer
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Branches in thallus much narrower than in the big shield lichens.
Smooth bark lichens:
Common Script Lichen (Graphis scripta)
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white oval patches (often wider than tall)
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dark squiggles (actually reproductive discs, apothecia, but not disc shaped)
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most often on hornbeam
Common button lichen (Buellia erubescens):
- small, oval, light gray or bark colored patches with scattered black warts
Rim lichens (Lecanora spp.):
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generally gray-green oval patches.
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obvious reproductive discs (apothecia) with rims the same color as the lichen
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the center of the disk roughly indicates the species: waxy yellow = mealy, dark brown = bumpy, pink and small = pink-eyed, white = frosted. This is not entirely reliable nor are these the only rim lichens.
Mapledust Lichen (Lecanora thysanophora):
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almost never has disks
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much lighter colored rim around the whole lichen
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generally on maples.
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more common north of NJ
Lichens on branches (all of the bark lichens, plus):
Common Ruffle lichen:
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edge of thallus turned up and ruffly
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edge has conspicuous black "eyelashes" (rhyzomes)
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edge often mealy looking
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/354764756/large.jpeg)
Star Rosette Lichen (Physcia stellaris) (can be on trunk as well):
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gray-white thallus.
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branches are somewhat tubular looking and smooth
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often has reproductive disks (apothecia) in a darker color.
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/56217726/large.jpeg)
Strap lichen (Ramalina americana)
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bushy but with strap like branches
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reproductive discs big and balanced on edges of leaf like a plate on the edge of a board.
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not commonly seen except on recently planted nursery trees.
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/6009041/large.jpeg)
Bushy beard lichen (Usnea strigosa)
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bushy with stringy branches
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each branch has tiny branchlets at ninety degree angles to it all over
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reproductive discs big and balanced on edges of leaf like a plate on the edge of a board.
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not commonly seen except on recently planted nursery trees.
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/13841252/large.jpeg)
Lichens on fences, or on the bases of trees (most of the above lichens plus)
British soldier lichens (Cladonia cristatella and C. floerkeana)
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green "matchsticks" with red tips
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base made up of gray-green flakes
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C. cristatella is not as bumpy on the "sticks" as C. floerkana
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/65763871/large.jpeg)
Common Powderhorn (Cladonia coniocraea)
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just the green sticks, with no red tips
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base is gray-green flakes
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at the base of trees almost all blue-green or gray-green flakes are this species.
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there are many less common Cladonia species on horizontal wood, often with cups at tips of sticks
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/11746289/large.jpeg)
Lichens on bare ground:
Turban cap lichen (Cladonia peziziformis)
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gray-green sticks with big, pinkish-brown caps
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sometimes also grows on decaying cement
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/182438966/large.jpeg)
Dixie Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia subtenuous)
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like a tangled mass of yarn
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branches fork in "y"s which then fork in "y"s etc.
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greener and more common than the other reindeer lichen
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/184460598/original.jpeg)
Gray Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia rangiferina)
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tangled mass
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grayer and not as clearly "y"-branched as Dixie
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almost only ever found on coastal plane, less common.
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/223292722/large.jpeg)
Lichen on sidewalks (and gravestones)
Sidewalk Firedot
-circular collections of bright orange or red-orange discs.
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/250429957/large.jpeg)
Note the various candleflame, goldspeck, and gold dust lichens can also be on sidewalks, as can various crusty green ones that I can't identify
Lichens on Rocks
Smokey-eyed Boulder Lichen (Porpidia albocaerulescens)
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oval splashes of white or light
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covered in reproductive discs, especially in the center
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discs are waxy gray with black rims.
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/31019900/large.jpeg)
Rock Greenshield (Flavoparmelia baltimorensis)
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like a common greenshield on rock
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center is noticeably more brown than edges
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smoother looking than common greenshield
![](https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/360686518/large.jpeg)
Note that common greenshield can also grow on rocks
note that there are a lot more lichens that I cannot yet ID, especially on rocks.
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srall
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2024年04月17日 00:58
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