Lichens in the Dells

When I updated the Plant Survey data for Colinton and Craiglockart Dells last year for Water of Leith Conservation Trust I had promised to take photos of some of the lichens in the area, underlining the fact that I didn't think I'd be able to identify any of them to species level (many species of lichen are superficially very similar and can only be identified to species level through microscopic examination and chemical tests!)

Unfortunately I didn't manage to take many photos (except the one that you can see at the top of this blog and as my social media banner photo). However, last Thursday's Lichen Safari at Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens (which I blogged about here) inspired me to finally get round to taking the photos and allowed me to actually identify the grand total of four species of lichen! So now I can add these records to the overall plant survey!

Here are some of the photos

lovely mosaic of Lecidella elaeochroma (with the black spots) and other lichens

the khaki coloured lichen in the photo above is a camoflage lichen (perhaps Melanelixia glabratula?) with a very nice pale green leafy lichen in the left hand side and some others in between.

Some lovely Xanthoria parietina (the bright yellow) and Leconora chlarotera (the beige one to the right of the yellow). In both these lichens (specially if you click on the photo for a bigger view) you have a very clear view of the fruiting bodies (they look like little cups). When you look closely with a hand lens, these are really beautiful lichens.

If you know your lichens better than I do and can identify any of the other species (or correct my identifications if necessary!) then please leave a comment!