WANTED (Alive)! Nephroma Helveticum

There are a number of lichens with a few pre-1945 records, but no recent collections. One of these is Nephroma helveticum, fringed kidney lichen. This fairly large, foliose lichen contains a cyanobacterium as the photobiont, giving it a dark brown to gray-brown color. The lichen has squamules or flattened isidia on the lobe margins (the fringed part of the common name), and it usually has kidney-shaped apothecia (the other part of the common name). The undersurface usually has a sparse covering of fine, wooly hair, but no recognizable rhizines.

Nephroma helveticum. Photo by Richard Droker.

It usually grows on mossy rocks and tree bases. There are three pre-1945 records for Ohio: Butler, Champaign and Greene Counties. So the next time you are botanizing in a shady place where few other lichens grow, keep an eye out for this interesting species.

-Ray Showman