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Cladonia leporina Fr.
Jester's Cap
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G4G5
State Rank: SNR
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: No
SWAP High Priority Species (SGCN): No
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 0
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Dry, sandy areas, outcrops, roadsides
Pale yellow-green thallus made up entirely of branching podetia (although a primary thallus of small squamules may be seen on young thalli growing on wood); branches thick, coarse, lax, tangled, the cortex of larger branches often wrinkled; branches tipped with red apothecia, common in some populations & almost entirely absent in others, or a mix of red-fruited & sterile thalli; CHEMISTRY: several chemical races exist, but in Ga. thalli are often PD+ yellow (baeomycesic acid) & sometimes have enough didymic acid to react KC+ blue-green; FIELD ID: unmistakable, with experience, even when sterile; look for lax, coarse thalli, yellow-green color, wrinkled cortex on larger branches; red apothecia clinch ID
Other red-fruited Cladonia species have primary thalli and are not long & multi-branched
None
Dry, sandy areas, outcrops, roadsides, usually on sandy soil, detritus, & rock, where often loose & vagrant; or interspersed with bryophytes or spikemoss (Bryodesma); occasionally attached on old dry wood, often as a scattering of young thalli
Terricolous fruticose lichenized fungus, photobiont a chlorococcoid alga in genus Trebouxia or Pseudotrebouxia
None
Statewide
Unknown
Common to abundant
None; this species can survive in pyric, fire-managed habitats when loose thalli blow/tumble into areas that are recently burned
Brodo, I. M. 2001. Lichens of North America. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
Brodo, I. M. 2016. Keys to lichens of North America: revised and expanded. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.
Esslinger, T. L. 2021. A cumulative checklist for the lichen-forming, lichenicolous and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. Version 24. Opuscula Philolichenum 20: 100-394.
Malcolm Hodges
13 May 2022