Pectenia plumbea, the Blue Felt Lichen on www.lichenportal.org
From LichenNS, this a.m.:
“The beautiful Blue Felt Lichen (Pectenia plumbea) is our new provincial lichen!
“In addition to turning a beautiful deep blue when wet, this distinctive lichen combines a thick gray scalloped body (thallus) topped with red-brown fruiting bodies, which rest on a thick blue-black fungal mat. It’s the only species of the genus known from North America. In Canada this lichen has been found only in the Atlantic region and is rare in the northeastern United States. Its main population is found in Nova Scotia, where it has been recorded from over 425 sites.
“Watch for it in humid low-lying areas where mature red maples flourish, in swamps, near rivers or lakes, or in upland hardwood stands not far from the coast. You may also find it on mature sugar maples, ash, yellow birch, poplar or eastern cedar. There’s even one on a huge old maple in Shelburne County in someone’s front yard, not far from the water!
“Over 565 people responded to the poll, and we are grateful for all the enthusiastic input. New Brunswick has chosen the Beard lichen Usnea longissima (http://lichenportal.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Usnea%20longissima) and Newfoundland has chosen the Newfoundland reindeer lichen Cladonia terra-novae.(http://www.mykoweb.com/misc/Omphalina/O-IV-11.pdf, page 15). No word yet on PEI’s choice!
“Each province will submit its chosen species to the Museum of Nature in Ottawa, who will combine them and publish a paper on all of them. We hope to publicise our Blue Felt Lichen in our provincial media soon, even before the national paper comes out.
“Thanks again for voting!
“- LichensNS”
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Some Background:
Vote to choose a Nova Scotia Provincial lichen Species
Post on NSFN Jan 16, 2019
The first post on NSFN: Globally endangered Boreal Felt Lichen set to decline 50% in 25 years despite conservation efforts (June 22, 2016)
View also: What lichens and lichenologists can and sometimes cannot tell us
Post Nov 4, 2019