I noticed this lichen or moss growing on leaf litter in a 10m sq area, in the Union Jack reserve. The clumps seem to be individual plants with no root structure. A.A., Buninyong.
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This is the attractive and well-named coral lichen (Cladia), widespread in forests around Ballarat, but seldom common or extensive. Most patches are only a few metres across.
With autumn rains, and in winter, it becomes soft and spongy, but in drier times it crushes readily underfoot.
It has very little anchorage, with patches sometimes overturned by white-winged choughs searching for food.
Large mats of it can sometimes look like snow, hence another common name, snow lichen.
A close look reveals an intricate, open, coral-like, lattice-work construction.
- Send questions and photos to Roger Thomas at The Courier, PO Box 21, Ballarat, 3353, or email rthomas@vic.australis.com.au