Notes:
Location: 35°13’49.26"N, 85°57’47.14"W, el. 575 m. Dotson Point Trail.

Substrate: Small patches of this tiny lichen cling to very loose, sandy soil along the rim of a 20 cm tall embankment bordering a frequently used foot path and mountain bike trail.

Habitat: Rich, oak-dominated, eastern deciduous forest at the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau.

Photos:
Dotson Point Trail, 2009-02-09: 35894-35909

Structure: The stalks of Dibaeis are solid, not hollow, and both stalk and cap are essentially free of photobionts, so these little structures are technically “apothecial stalks,” and not “podetia” (Brodo, p.761).

Common name: pink earth lichen

Note added on 21 feb 2009: Thanks, amanitarita. A biologist friend is letting me use his magnificent microscope. I love it!