Sticta beauvoisii is a large foliose lichen that is loosely attached to its substrate. It looks like a rather ruffled brown Peltigera but
without any obvious apothecia which are rare in Sticta beauvoisii. The photobiont is Nostoc. The margins and cracks in the thallus are crowded by large numbers of
branched (coralloid) dark brown isidia giving the thallus lobes a fringed look. The bottom of the thallus has a tomentum of short brown rhizines with
numerous white crater-like cyphellae, giving rise to the "Moon Lichen" common name. The cyphellae are lined by small round cells. Sticta beauvoisii was found
on a large bryophyte-covered boulder in mixed conifer forest.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Sticta beauvoisii, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, undersurface, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, photomicrograph of fringe of isidia on margins and cracks, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, photomicrograph of undersurface with cyphellae, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, photomicrograph of cross section of thallus, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, photomicrograph of cross section of thallus through cyphella, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, higher power photomicrograph of cross section of thallus through cyphella, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
Sticta beauvoisii, photomicrograph of round cells lining cyphella, on bryophyte covered boulder on side canyon along upper Little Cherry Creek, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Grant County, December 20, 2025
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