(a) Cross section of apothecium

Both sexual and vegetative reproduction can be found amongst the lichens and, when you look at a lichen with a naked eye or hand lens, you are likely to see some of the structures that act to produce or disperse sexual or vegetative propagules. The aim of this page is simply to describe such structures rather than to deal with the mechanics of propagule production or dispersal but you can find more information about that aspect on the reproduction & dispersal page. Much of this page will be devoted to the structures involved in sexual reproduction. When it comes to vegetative reproduction the relevant structures are far less obvious. Indeed, sometimes you may wonder whether you're looking at a definite structure or just a modification of thallus morphology and some types of vegetative propagules are released with the development of no structure to help produce and disperse such propagules.

Finally, in almost all lichens the mycobionts are ascomycetes and this page will be devoted to the reproductive structures of the ascolichens. There is a separate page about basidiolichens which contains details of both their vegetative and reproductive structures. Much of the information on this page has been taken from the sources given in the following reference button.

Only the fungal partner reproduces sexually. The most commonly seen sexual reproduction structures are apothecia. These are typically circular and disc-like or cup-like though there are also species in which the apothecial surface bulges outward. They may be of the same colour as the thallus or strikingly different and vary in diameter from under a millimetre to over two centimetres, depending on species, with the larger apothecia found on the more substantial foliose lichens. In most species the apothecia sit on the thallus surface but there are species in which the apothecia are immersed in the thallus and others where the apothecia are