Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. – Daniel

Brown-eyed wolf lichen is considered one of two species in the genus Letharia (the other being Letharia vulpina). At first glance, it is readily distinguished from its counterpart by the presence of brown apothecia. However, read Susanne Altermann's “A Second Look at Letharia (Th. Fr.) Zahlbr” (PDF) from the Winter 2004 Bulletin of the California Lichen Society for information that suggests the classification of species in the genus might be a bit more complicated than at first glance.