A podetium (plural: podetia) is the upright secondary thallus in Cladonia lichens. It is a hollow stalk extending from the primary thallus.[1] Podetia can be pointed stalks, club like, cupped, or branched in shape and may or may not contain the ascocarp, the fruiting body, of the lichen.[2] It is not considered part of the primary thallus as it is a fruiting structure for reproduction.
A lichen can be described as "podetiate" when it forms a podetium.
References
edit- ^ McCune, Bruce; Geiser, Linda (2009). Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press. p. 446. ISBN 978-0870715655.
- ^ Brodo, I.M.; Sharnoff, S.D.; Sharnoff, S.; Canadian Museum of Nature (2001), Lichens of North America, Yale University Press, p. 761, ISBN 9780300082494