Pilophorus acicularis #

Taxon #

Pilophorus acicularis

Organization #

Matchstick Lichens

Identification #

Forming bunches of slender fruticose growths tipped in black apothecia which sharply contrast their light gray-green pseudopodetia. The apothecia are closer to spherical in P. acicularis while they are more elongated in the similar P. clavatus.

Substrate #

Acidic rocks

Chemical Tests #

thallus and stalks: K+ yellow, C-, KC-, Pd- (Brodo et al. 2001)

Notes #

Most common in SE Alaska north to the Kenai Peninsula. The genus should be sought in Kodiak. A mostly coastal species in Alaska with more inland records in British Columbia. Collected by Krog in the western Talkeetna Mountains (Spribille et al. 2023) and H. Schindler in Denali National Park in 1987 (CLH).