An Illustrated Glossary of Lichen Terms
If you are ready to start learning the lichens you better be ready to learn a new language. Here I hope to include a list of terms as I stumble along them myself. I find one of the hardest things in learning lichens is a lack of illustrations. This will be an ongoing project. If you find this page an have a question send it on over!

Below I’ll add terms as I go along. Some shall have simple descriptions, other shall direct to dedicated pages. Note that in general I’ll use the most common form of a term here i.e. Isidia is plural, click the link to see the singular and adjective form.

Apothecia – Cup shaped reproductive structure in lichens.
Asci – The spore containing structure in an apothecia.
Ascocarp – The generic term for the fruiting body of Ascomycetes fungi.

Cephalodia – Raised structures often containing cyanobacteria.
Cilia – Hair like structures growing from the margins of some lichens.

Farinose – Like a fine powder, see soredia.

Hyphae – Fungal filaments that make up the main structure of the lichen.

Isidia – Asexual reproductive structures, small pointed bits designed to break off.

Pycnidia – Structures containing hundreds of spores call conidia

Rhizines – Hair like structures growing from the underside of lichens, helping them attach to a substrate.

Soralia – Discrete structures containing soredia.
Soredia – Asexual reproductive structures, powdery granules of hyphae.

Thallus – The fungal surface of a lichen.

Perithecia – Pear shaped reproductive structure in select lichens.