Geograph - photograph every grid square

Several patches of this lichen were growing on peaty soil at the side of a footpath; it appeared to be colonizing places where soil had fallen away fairly recently (within the last year or so), exposing some fresh but steep surfaces.

As can be seen here, the lichen consists of a greenish crust, with little brownish fruiting bodies; these were each about a millimetres across, and they had fairly short stalks, so that they were almost resting on the crust (in this species, the extent to which the fruiting bodies are stalked can vary a great deal). [A species that is quite similar to this one, and with which it might be confused, is Dibaeis baeomyces (syn. Baeomyces roseus).]

This lichen probably serves a useful purpose in helping to hold together soil surfaces which would otherwise be quickly washed away.

For an example of this species growing on rock, and showing better-developed stalks, see: NS4179 : A lichen - Baeomyces rufus.