I was wondering, since certain lichens have apothecia, like many fungi do. Which (to my memory) are fruiting bodies that release the spores. There is not much covered on lichen, let alone spore printing. So, I was hoping there would be some knowledgeable mycologists/lichenologists/people who could correct me or know if it is possible to do a spore print on that category of lichen.
I would start with the standard mushroom technique; place your fruit body hymenium down on a piece of white paper, cover with a bowl and wait 24. If no apparent print appears look at the paper edge on. This way you can see hyaline (clear) and white spores.
I don’t think people usually make spore prints, per se, of lichens. Brodo & Brodo suggest sectioning ascomata (when necessary for identification) and then crushing a wet-mounted section gently beneath a coverslip to release spores, if desired. If the asci fail to separate, it may be necessary to introduce 10% KOH beneath the coverslip to dissolve some of the gelatinous material. Spores in certain groups may require negative staining with ink (to reveal a gelatinous capsule) or staining with Lugol’s iodine (to reveal starch surrounding the spore).
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