I have been having a really blah day, and so I needed a colorful lichen to brighten my mood. I am not sure it gets any brighter than L. silacea! This crustose lichen has a thick thallus of bright rusty-red or orange. It is cracked and tile-like, with black apothecia dotting the surface. It grows on acidic rock in arctic-alpine habitats in Europe, Greenland, and North America. Never let a bad day go by without reminding yourself that the world is full of adorable little lichens that look like squishy little piles of clay but are actually very hard and durable and will most likely outlast you on this godforsaken world. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, isn’t L. silacea so cute???
