Common powderhorn

Description:

Primary thallus: squamulose, persistent; squamules: 3-9 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, deeply laciniate to palmately lobed, sparingly to abundantly sorediate along margins of underside podetia: 8-45 mm tall, 1-2 mm wide, green to gray-green, unbranched or sparingly branched; apices: subulate or bearing very small (up to 2 mm wide), shallow cups surface: ecorticate and sorediate above, lower portions corticate; cortex: thinning or almost lacking, not reaching high up on podetia or to cup interiors; soredia: farinose Apothecia: rare, up to 1.5 mm diam, brown ascospores: ellipsoid, 10-16 x 3-5 micro meter Pycnidia: inferquent, on tips of podetia, ovoid, with hyaline gelatin conidia: 4-8 x 0.5-1.5 micro meter Spot tests: K- or K+ dingy yellow to brownish, KC-, C-, P+ orange to brick red, UV- Secondary metabolites: fumarprotocetraric acid complex (the minor satellite convirensic acid probably less frequent than in C. ochrochlora). Habitat and ecology: on rotting wood and tree bases, rarely on bare soil World distribution: Asia, Europe and North America; temperate-boreal Sonoran distribution: Arizona, Baja California, and Chihuahua. Notes: Cladonia coniocraea and C. ochrochlora are morphologically very similar, and some authors are inclined to unite them. The present treatment is provisional. The squamules of C. coniocraea are always deeply incised, whereas the margins of the squamules of C. ochrochlora can be nearly entire. Cladonia coniocraea is usually found without cups, but C. ochrochlora rarely lacks them completely.

Habitat:

Found on the side of an large old stump. This stump is 5 ft dia. and is about 6 ft tall. Probably cut 40-50 years ago. It's quiet amassing - so far I've spotted 4 types of moss, 4-lichen and 3-liverworts on this one stump.