Day 61: For the most part, I tend to commit to memory the Latin nomenclature for vascular plants, fungi and lichens, but once I had seen the common name "fairy barf" applied to Icmadophila ericetorum, I could not dismiss it from my mind (and believe me, I tried). That said, I prefer an alternate spelling ("faerie") for this lichen and the weakly pink apothecia and pastel green thallus which characterize it. Since lichen common names are not standardized like the majority of those applied to vascular plants, I feel justified in taking a small liberty to afford a slight measure of dignity to the species. Bottom line? Icmadophila is one of my favourite lichens. It deserves better than it's been given.
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