Description: This large, but readily disintegrating when collected, brown-frosted ‘dog lichen’, is frequent in Ireland on the short turf of rather basic soils. It is usually abundantly fertile with red-brown discs that are often in-rolled. The lower surface, which attaches like velcro, is covered with buff to ochre-coloured veins towards the centre of the thallus. These veins are covered in dark, fluffy rhizinae.

Key Identification Features:

• The readily broken, brown, frosted thallus (especially towards the centre of the lobes) on limey soils should distinguish this species
• Peltigera hymenina may resemble it, but has shiny, non-pruinose lobes and avoids basic soils.

Original text submitted by Simon Davey

Distribution Map from NBN: Peltigera rufescens at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Peltigera rufescens at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.