Dog Lichens - Peltigera spp

Dog Lichens Peltigera spp are a lichenised fungi ie an algae and/or a cyanobacteria and a fungi living symbiotically to form what is essentially a single organism. The upper side is dark greenish brown, with a slightly suedey look. The underside is whitish with numerous 'hairs'. Dog Lichens are common, growing in the sun or dappled shade on mossy rocks, rotting tree trunks and on the soil in grassy meadows. They can fix nitrogen from the air, so can act as a soil improver.

A Dog Lichen growing on a ruined stone wall in Angles sur l'Anglin.

Peltigera cf polydactyla. The orange bits are called apothecia and are the fruiting bodies. It was growing on a tree in the Forêt de Preuilly, October.

Peltigera canina, very dry, growing in the grass on the Puy Besnard near Chinon.