Cladonia macilenta Hoffm.

    Primary thallus made of small squamules, grey-blue, grey-greenish tinged orange towards the base, ± sorediate, indented, forming mats disappearing soon. Podetia erected, 1-4 cm tall, sometimes twisted and curved, simple or rarely sparingly branched, narrower near apices, without scyphi, squamulose towards the base, entirely farinose to coarsely granular sorediate, or only at apices, grey-blue to grey-greenish. Apothecia small, in limited numbers, 0.2-0.4 cm, red. Photobiont: Trebouxioid. Thallus: C-, K+ gold yellow, Pd+ orange, UV- but several chemotypes have been described. On bark, stumps and rotten wood and also on soil or compost. N.B. Cladonia polydactyla is very difficult to distinguish from this species, notably the squamulose morphs devoid of distinctive scyphi only present at a late stage of development. Cladonia coniocraea is also difficult to determine but this species displays a beautiful bright dark green when moist and brown apothecia. But the main difficulty is with Cladonia floerkeana of which the scyphi are not sorediate and subsquamulose, with more numerous and larger apothecia, usually K- and Pd-. In case  of negative chemical reactions, see Cladonia macilenta var. bacillaris.