Common Orange Lichen

Here I go, blogging about orange fungus again. There seems to be lots of orange fungus in this area.  Or maybe the orange color is just noticeable at this time of year.  My guess is that common orange lichen, Xanthoria parietina, must be common enough to be often observed or it wouldn't have that name.  But that's all conjecture.

This leafy (foliose) lichen is also called golden shield, yellow scale, maritime sunburst and shore lichen.  Parts of this lichen look to me like mini orange cups with yellow rims, which are the apothecia of the lichen.   "An apothecium is a fungal reproductive structure, in which the fungus reproduces itself through the production of spores. These spores will disperse and germinate into new fungi, but they will not produce new lichens. For a lichen to reproduce, the fungus and the alga must disperse together." (from ucmp.berkeley.edu)  It's all so complicated!

I think I have taken photos of all the same type of lichen, but it's possible that I am being tricked into thinking that identifying tree lichen is easy.

The website wildflowerfinder.org.uk states that "unlike many lichens, Golden Shield is tolerant of atmospheric pollutants such as bisulphite ions or lead and other heavy metals. It is to be found in polluted areas."  I'm not sure what that means for the Laramie area; perhaps Wyoming needs to cut down on the mining?