Cranfield's Sulphur Lichen
Whole
Ellura
Cranfield's Sulphur Lichen
Fruiting Bodies
 
                      
Cranfield's Sulphur Lichen (Gyalolechia cranfieldii)Class: Fungi (Fungi) - Sac Fungi (Ascomycota) - Lichenised Fungi (Lecanoromycetes)
Order: Lichens (Teloschistales)
Family: Lichen (Teloschistaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Cranfield's Sulphur Lichen (Gyalolechia cranfieldii)
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Synonym: Fulgensia cranfieldii

Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~18mm wide (highly variable, just our latest photo was this wide).
We have a lot of these over Ellura.
Unlike sulphur slime mould, this doesn't come up yellow, then go brown. It stays this colour for weeks/months. We've not observed one for a long period of time, but it's so widespread, it never seems to change.
We thought the black spots were fruiting bodies, but they are just sand particles. The fruiting bodies are orange.

Copyright © 2023-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 25-Jul-2023
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.