Day 184: Despite its appearance, Omphalina umbellifera is technically not a mushroom. It is a lichen, one of only three lichen genera in the US known to have a basidiomycete as the fungal partner (as opposed to an ascomycete). What this means in layman's terms is that these lichens reproduce via different types of cells (asci versus basidia). It also means that poor little Omphalina is often disregarded by lichenologists when in fact it probably deserves closer study than many of its ascomycete cousins. Look for Omphalina on well-decayed ends of downed trees and have a little fun with your hiking friends when you explain that it's not a mushroom.
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