Description: This poorly known and therefore, probably under-recorded, shrubby lichen is easily confused with both C. ciliata and C. portentosa with which it frequently grows. In Ireland, the species is only confirmed from the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. It grows on rocky, coastal heaths. The richly, finely branched, terminal portion never shows a distinct pattern of orientation typical of C. ciliata var. tenuis. It is Pd+ red, has slender branch tips and colourless pycnidial jelly protruding from the apices. C. portentosa has broccoli-like branching and is Pd-.

Key Identification Features:

• Thallus shrubby, broadly branched, with especially spreading terminal branches; Pd+ red
• Rocky or stony, coastal heaths; under-recorded.

Original text submitted by Vince J. Giavarini

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

iNaturalist: Cladonia azorica at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.