Top 13 Most Common Mushrooms in Mesa Geitonia

The thallus, or vegetative body, has a fructicose shape — that is, shrubby and densely branched — and a bright yellow to yellow-green, or chartreuse color, although the color will fade in drier specimens. Its dimensions are typically 2 to 7 cm (0.8 to 3 in) in diameter. The vegetative reproductive structures soredia and isidia are present on the surface of the thalli, often abundantly.

D. canescens is a crustose lichen with lobed margins a growth type known as "placodioid". It grows in rosettes up to 6 cm (2.4 in) across. The thallus which can range in color from white to very pale gray is typically darker in the center and very white-pruinose on the marginal lobes. These lobes are convex becoming wider at the tips – up to 1 mm (0.04 in) wide. The center of the thallus is generally covered with soralia which are flour-like and pale to slightly yellow in color. The photobiont of D. canescens is a green algae (chlorococcoid). Like many lichens D. canescens disperses primarily by means of symbiotic vegetative propagules; most are covered with extensive mats of soralia. Apothecia are rare but where they occur are black lecideine (meaning that they have no thalline margin) and measure 0.3–1 mm (0.01–0.04 in) in diameter. Each ascus contains eight spores. Each spore is brown with a cell wall (called a septum) that divides it into two cells; it measures 10–15 μm (0.0004–0.0006 in) x 5–8 μm (0.0002–0.0003 in). Observations in Ireland found apothecia only between the months of summer and winter. The production of spores increased over that time period with peak germination occurring in fall.

Despite its unassuming appearance, red ring rot has a sinister reputation with commercial logging operations as it is the most common cause of decay in some conifer species. It grows on both living conifers and the deadwood from conifers, often forming a reddish-brown conk. On the flip side, it produces hollowed-out trees that make for excellent nesting sites.