Lecanora confusa is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It grows on the bark of trees and shrubs, particularly in coastal areas of Europe and North America. First identified in Sweden in 1955, this small, greenish-grey lichen forms smooth patches and is recognized by its pale yellowish-green reproductive structures (apothecia). Once thought extinct in the Netherlands, it was rediscovered in 2000 growing primarily on poplar trees. The species contains several unique secondary metabolites and is part of a group of similar-looking lichens related to Lecanora polytropa.
It was described as new to science in 1955 by the Swedish lichenologist Ove Almborn. Thetype specimen was collected by Almborn himself on 26 August 1950, in Hallands Väderö, located in Torekov parish, Skåne, Sweden. The specimen was found growing on alder in an area called Kapellhamnskärret.[1] This specimen is preserved as a lectotype in the Lund University Botanical Museum (LD) herbarium, having been formally designated as the lectotype by Arup and Ekman in 1991.[2]
Lecanora confusa is widespread in Northern and Western Europe, with a range extending to southern Scandinavia. It also occurs in North America (including Alaska[4]) and in Macaronesia. It grows on the bark of twigs and branches of deciduous shrubs and trees, and occasionally on timber, especially in coastal areas.[3] Once considered extinct in the Netherlands, L.confusa rediscovered in 2000 at 24 localities in Zeeland province, predominantly growing on the trunks of poplar trees along roads, dikes, and forest edges. Although historically associated with twigs, these new findings were all on tree trunks in well-lit conditions.[5] In 2024, it was reported from Paramushir in the Russian Far East, its first record from Russia.[6]
↑ Almborn, O. (1955). "Lavvegetation och lavflora pa Hallands Vadero". Kunglige Svenska Vetenskapsakademien Avhandlinger I Naturskyddsarden (in Swedish). 11: 72.
↑ Printzen, C. (2001). "Corticolous and lignicolous species of Lecanora (Lecanoraceae, Lecanorales) with usnic or isousnic acid in the Sonoran Desert Region". The Bryologist. 104 (3): 382–409. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2001)104[0382:CALSOL]2.0.CO;2.
1 2 3 Edwards, B.; Aptroot, A.; Hawksworth, D.L.; James, P.W. (2009). "Lecanora Ach. in Luyken (1809)". In Smith, CW; Aptroot, A.; Coppins, B.J.; Fletcher, A.; Gilbert, O.L.; James, P.W.; Wolseley, P.A. (eds.). The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland. London: British Lichen Society. p.482.
↑ Talbot, Stephen S.; Talbot, Sandra Looman; Thomson, John W. (1991). "Lichens of Attu Island, Alaska". The Bryologist. 94 (4): 421–426. doi:10.2307/3243837. JSTOR3243837.
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