Elf Ears Lichen

Normandina pulchella, commonly known as the elf-ear lichen or blue heart, is a species of squamulose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. This cosmopolitan species is widely distributed across both hemispheres, where it thrives in moist microhabitats. It favours moss-covered deciduous trees and rocks, often colonising over mosses and bryophytes.

It occasionally grows on bare bark and on other lichens. Distinctive features of N. pulchella include its bluish-green squamules (scales) with sharply raised margins, non-reactivity to standard chemical spot tests, and growth in humid habitats.

Initially, Nannochloris normandinae, a green alga, was thought to be its photobiont. More recent studies, however, have revised this understanding, with Diplosphaera chodatii now recognised as the algal...

Normandina pulchella growing amongst moss on tree bark Normandina pulchella has a cosmopolitan distribution, growing across diverse climates and regions. The Swedish lichenologist Gunnar Degelius, in his 1934 phytogeographical study, highlights the species' oceanic distribution in Europe. It predominantly occupies coastal areas in Northern Europe, including Scandinavia and the British Isles, and...