Notes: This is a very cool lichen, one of the few true basidiolichens, related to Thelephora. Apparently the relative quantity of algae to fungus can make a large difference in thallus structure. This particular specimen is dominated by the fungus. The hymenium is smooth and disintegrates rapidly when it dries out (hidden below in the photo). The algae can be clearly seen (when wet) with a hand lens as a continuous dark green layer just beneath the surface. It is a cyanobacterium in the genus Scytonema. This lichen is primarily a “tropical montane” species (and genus), but here it is at 41 degrees south in the Valdivian temperate rain forest.

Check out these links for more info (the first two) and photos:

1) 1911encyclopedia.org (search for “dictyonema”)
2) amjbot.org
3) fieldmuseum.org (search for “dictyonema” again)
4) Paul Hofmann

The nomenclature is very complicated, also having been called (and still being called in some cases) Dictyonema glabratum, C. pavonia, D. pavonium, and Thelephora glabrata (at least in 1820!). C. glabrata is the currently accepted name on Index Fungorum, at least…