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The crustaceous lichens occurring on bark or on dead wood, like those on rocks, are either partly or wholly immersed in the substratum (hypophloeodal), or they grow on the surface (epiphloeodal); but even those with a superficial crust are anchored by the lower hyphae which enter any crack or crevice of wood or bark and so securely attach the thallus, that it can only be removed by cutting away the underlying substance.

a. Epiphloeodal Lichens. These lichens originate in the same way as the corresponding epilithic series from soredia or from germinating spores, and follow the same stages of growth; first a hypothallus with subsequent colonization of gonidia, the formation of granules, areolae, etc. The small compartments are formed as primary or secondary areolae; the larger spaces are marked out by the encounter of hypothalli starting from different centres.

The thickness of the thallus varies considerably according to the species. In some Pertusariae with a stoutish irregular crust there is a narrow amorphous cortical layer of almost obliterated cells, a thin gonidial zone about 35 µ in width and a massive rather dense medulla of colourless hyphae. Darbishire[336] has described and figured in Varicellaria microsticta, one of the Pertusariaceae, single hyphae that extend like beams across the wide medulla and connect the two cortices. In some Lecanorae and Lecideae there is, on the contrary, an extremely thin thallus consisting of groups of algae and loose fungal filaments, which grow over and between the dead cork cells of the outer bark. On palings, there is often a fairly substantial granular crust present, with a gonidial zone up to about 80 µ thick, while the underlying or medullary hyphae burrow among the dead wood fibres.

b. Hypophloeodal Lichens. These immersed lichens are comparable with the endolithic species of the rock formations, as their thallus is almost entirely developed under the outer bark of the tree. They are recognizable, even in the absence of any fructification, by the somewhat shining brownish, white or olive-green patches that indicate the underlying lichen. This type of thallus occurs in widely separated families and genera, Lecidea, Lecanora, etc., but it is most constant in Graphideae and in those Pyrenolichens of which the algal symbiont belongs to the genus Trentepohlia. The development of these lichens is of peculiar interest as it has been proved that though both symbionts are embedded in the corky tissues, the hyphae arrive there first, and, at some later stage, are followed by the gonidia. There is therefore no question of the alga being a “captured slave” or “unwilling mate.”

Frank[337] made a thorough study of several subcortical forms. He found that in Arthonia radiata, the first outwardly visible indication of the presence of the lichen on ash bark was a greenish spot quite distinct from the normal dull-grey colour of the periderm. Usually the spots are round in outline, but they tend to become ellipsoid in a horizontal direction, being influenced by the growth in thickness of the tree. At this early stage only hyphae are present; Bornet[338] as well as Frank described the outer periderm cells as penetrated and crammed with the colourless slender filaments. Lindau[339], in a more recent work, disputes that statement: he found that the hyphae invariably grew between the dead cork cells, splitting them up and disintegrating the bark, but never piercing the membranes. The purely prothallic condition, as a weft of closely entangled hyphae, may last, Frank considers, for a long period in an almost quiescent condition—possibly for several years—before the gonidia arrive.

It is always difficult to observe the entrance of the gonidia but they seem to spread first under the second or third layers of the periderm. With care it is possible to trace a filament of Trentepohlia from the surface downwards, and to see that the foremost cell is really the growing and advancing apex of the creeping alga. Both symbionts show increased vigour when they encounter each other: the thallus at once develops in extent and in depth, and, ultimately, reproductive bodies are formed. In some species the apothecia or perithecia alone emerge above the bark, in others the outer peridermal cells are thrown off, and the thallus thus becomes superficial to some extent as a white scurfy or furfuraceous crust.

The change from a hypophloeodal to a partly epiphloeodal condition depends largely on the nature of the bark. Frank[337] found that Lecanora pallida remained for a long time immersed when growing on the thick rugged bark of oak trunks. When well lighted, or on trees with a thin periderm, such as the ash, the lichen emerges much earlier and becomes superficial.

Black (or occasionally white) lines intersect the thallus and mark, as in saxicolous lichens (Fig. 41), the boundary lines between different individuals or different species. The pioneer hyphae of certain lichens very frequently become dark-coloured, and Bitter[340] has suggested as the reason for this that in damp weather the hypothallic growth is exceptionally vigorous. When dry weather supervenes, with high winds or strong sunshine, the outlying hyphae, unprotected by the thallus, become dark-coloured. On the return of more normal conditions the blackened tips are thrown off. Bitter further states that species of Graphideae do not form a permanent black limiting line when they grow in an isolated position: it is only when their advance is checked by some other thallus that the dark persistent edge appears, a characteristic also to be seen in the crust of other lichens. The dark boundary is always more marked in sunny exposed situations: in the shade, the line is reduced to a mere thread.

Bitter’s restriction of black boundary lines to cases of encountering thalli only, would exclude the comparison one is tempted to make between the advancing hyphae of lichens and those of many woody fungi where the extreme edge of the white invaded woody tissue is marked by a dark line. In the latter case however it is the cells of the host that are stained black by the fungus pigment.