At the invitation of the Conservancy, in 2009 members of the California Lichen Society surveyed lichens at sixteen sites in Claremont Canyon. Read a report of the survey in the Conservancy’s Fall 2009 Newsletter. In all, 81 lichen species were identified. The results of the survey were published in the Bulletin of the California Lichen Society, vol. 16(2), 2009. Since that time a few more species have been found, none showier than the newest addition to the list. In February this year, Alex Pierce discovered and photographed the Macilenta transcendens (transcend cup lichen) growing on a stump in the far reaches of her Strathmoor Road yard. From Alex’s pictures, Lichen Society President Tom Carlberg was able to supply the identification. This species is found throughout North America and, like several other Macilenta species, produces a lipstick-red fruit. Specimens of most lichen species collected in the canyon have been deposited in the Jepson Herbarium at UC Berkeley. Photos of those specimens, as well as more pictures of M. transcendens, may be viewed at: http://nhwildlife.net/album3/Lichens/.
