Icmadophila ericetorum (L.) Zahlbr.

Fairy barf, candy lichen, peppermint drop lichen

Similar species

	Dibaeis baeomyces	You are here Icmadophila ericetorum
Common Name	pink earth lichen	fairy barf
Plant	Gray or white, crustose, smooth or with a powdery appearance with rounded or flattened “warts.” The warts are up to 1/32″ (1 mm) in size in sterile plants. In fertile plants, they are less than a third of a millimeter in size.	The lichen is crustose, looking a bit like spilled paint, thinly coating its substrate with a greenish-grayish (often described as mint green), granular surface.
Fruit	The apothecia, or fruiting bodies, are pale pink, 1/32–⅛″ (1–4 mm) around, on tiny white stalks—they resemble tiny pink mushrooms. The white stalks are usually clearly visible.	Fruiting bodies, or apothecia, as they are called in lichens, are pinkish, pale orange, or brownish, and 1/32–⅛″ (1.5–4 mm) in diameter. They are rounded, and wrinkled, a bit like brains. They are often in clusters. They look a bit like tiny mushroom caps. They are usually stalkless, but may have short stalks.

Icmadophila ericetorum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.