Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Lichens > Genus Peltigera > Dog Peltigera Lichen

Dog Peltigera Lichen

The Dog Peltigera, Peltigera canina, (L.) Hoffm.

Habit and habitat. This lichen grows in extensive patches on logs or on the ground.

Vegetative organ (thallus).-Large greenish-gray, ashy, or brownish: membranaceous, round-lobed; furrowed and downy on the upper surface: whitish beneath with light-coloured veins and hairs, sometimes becoming dark.

Fruiting disks (apothecia).-Reddish-brown; of large size; rounded, becoming semi-revolute and vertical. Supposed to resemble dogs' teeth and for this reason, on the supposition that "'Like cures like," used as a remedy for hydrophobia.

Name.-The specific name canina from the Latin canis, a dog.

Spores. -Somewhat needle-shaped; four- to eight-celled.