Biodiversity & Conservation

Sea ivory - Ramalina siliquosa

Ramalina siliquosa

Image Harvey Tyler-Walters - Ramalina siliquosa on upper shore rock. Image width ca 7 cm.
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Distribution map

Ramalina siliquosa recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Ramalina siliquosa is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Ascomycota Sac fungi
Class Lecanoromycetes
Authority (Hudson) Smith, 1918
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Widely distributed around the British Isles. Gaps in its recorded distribution are probably due to lack of suitable substrata.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found on hard siliceous rock in and above the splash zone, and inland in areas subject to maritime influence, such as the tops of sea cliffs.
Text page icon Description A shrubby, yellow-grey to greenish grey lichen between 2 -7 cm long. The thallus is composed of erect or slightly pendant lobes, arising from the base, little divided, often scimitar shaped but very variable. Lobes may be glossy, or with granular outgrowths (warts) and wrinkled. The lobes are 2-9 mm wide with white spots towards the tips but not normally blackened at the base. The thallus often bears pale fawn coloured fruiting bodies, usually on short stalks. The thallus is hard and brittle when dry.
Identifying features
  • Thallus fructicose (shrubby), attached to substratum at single point.
  • Thallus hard and brittle when dry.
  • Thallus erect or slightly pendant and yellow-grey to greenish grey in colour.
  • Lobes, 2-9mm wide, white spotted towards the tips, coarsely tufted with granular outgrowths on surface, and rarely blackened at base.
Additional information icon Additional information Ramalina siliquosa is eaten by sheep in Shetland and North Wales (Dobson, 2000).

This review can be cited as follows:

Dr Harvey Tyler-Walters 2002. Ramalina siliquosa. Sea ivory. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 09/02/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4235>