Soredia are common reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria or green algae. These can be either scattered diffusely across the surface of the lichen's thallus, or produced in localized structures called soralia. Fungal hyphae make up the basic body structure of lichen. The soredia are released through openings in the upper cortex of the lichen structure. After their release, the soredia disperse to establish the lichen in a new location.
Chrysothrix candelaris, commonly known as the mustard powder lichen or gold dust lichen, is a species of leprose (powdery) lichen in the family Chrysothricaceae. It typically grows on tree bark, although it has also been recorded growing on rock. It does not show ascocarps or other reproductive structures, belonging to the group commonly known as the 'Fungi or lichens imperfecti' in the UK.
Caloplaca saxicola is a small bright orange crustose lichen that grows on rock all over the world. It is commonly called rock firedot lichen, jewel lichen or rock jewel lichen.
Physcia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Physciaceae. The widely distributed genus contains about 80 species. The genus is cosmopolitan, and has been extensively studied in various regions in the past several decades, with significant biodiversity in South America identified as a central diversity hotspot. Physcia species are foliose, lobate lichens that grow with a loose to close appressed habit. Their upper surface is typically whitish, pale greenish, green-grey, or dark grey in colour. The thallus colour remains relatively unchanged when moistened. Physcia lichens typically grow on bark, on wood, or rock, although they have occasionally been recorded dwelling on man-made structures. They thrive in nutrient-rich environments and are expanding rapidly in urban areas of the United Kingdom previously affected by SO2 pollution.
Menegazzia terebrata is a species of foliose lichen found scattered across many continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Esslingeriana is a fungal genus in the family Parmeliaceae. The genus is monotypic, containing the single foliose lichen species Esslingeriana idahoensis, commonly known as the tinted rag lichen. It is found in northwestern North America.
Physcia caesia, known colloquially as blue-gray rosette lichen and powder-back lichen, is a species of foliose lichenized fungus. First described by Georg Franz Hoffmann in 1784, it is common across much of Europe, North America and New Zealand, and more patchily distributed in South America, Asia, Australia and Antarctica. There are 2 subspecies: P. c. caesia and P. c. ventosa, as well as a number of distinct forms and varieties. Molecular studies suggest that the species as currently defined may be polyphyletic. It is typically pale gray shading to darker gray in the center, and grows in a small rosette, usually some 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) across at maturity. It only rarely has apothecia, instead reproducing most often vegetatively via soredia, which are piled in round blue-gray mounds across the thallus's upper surface. It grows most often on rock—principally calcareous, but also basaltic and siliceous—and also occurs on bone, bark and soil. It is nitrophilic and is particularly common on substrates where birds perch.
Melanohalea subolivacea, commonly known as the brown-eyed camouflage lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.
Punctelia rudecta, commonly known as the rough speckled shield or the speckleback lichen, is a North American species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. This species can be readily identified by the light color of the thallus underside, the relatively large lobes at the edges of the thallus, and the tiny white pores present on the top of the thallus that are characteristic of the genus Punctelia. The lichen is quite abundant and widespread in the eastern and southeastern United States, although it also occurs in Canada and northern Mexico, but is less common in these regions. The lichen usually grows on bark, and less commonly on shaded rocks. There are several lookalike Punctelia species; these can often be distinguished from P. rudecta by differences in distribution or in the nature of the reproductive structures present on the thallus.
Punctelia hypoleucites, commonly known as the southwestern speckled shield lichen, is a species of foliose (leafy) lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. First formally described by Finnish botanist William Nylander as a species of Parmelia, it was transferred to the genus Punctelia in 1982. The lichen is found in Africa, North America, and South America, where it grows on the bark of both hardwood and coniferous trees. Its greenish-grey thallus is covered with tiny white pseudocyphellae – minute holes in the thallus surface that facilitate gas exchange. Some macroscopic features that help distinguish this species from other related members of the genus include the presence and the structure of the apothecia, the absence of asexual surface propagules, and the light brown color of the thallus undersurface. Chemically, the presence of lecanoric acid in the medulla and atranorin in the cortex help distinguish it from lookalikes.
Punctelia bolliana, the eastern speckled shield lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in North America, with a distribution extending from the Canadian province of Ontario south to the central and northeastern United States and Mexico. It grows on the bark of both deciduous trees and coniferous trees. The combination of characteristics that distinguishes this species from others in genus Punctelia are the absence of the vegetative propagules isidia and soralia, a pale brown lower thallus surface, and the presence of the secondary chemical protolichesterinic acid in the medulla.
Hypogymnia krogiae, commonly known as the freckled tube lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in North America, it was described as a new species in 1973 by Karl Ohlsson. The type specimen was collected near Cheat Bridge, West Virginia by Mason Hale in 1956.
Physcia aipolia, commonly known as the Hoary rosette lichen, is a lichen species of fungus in the genus Physcia, and family Lecanoromycetes. Physcia aipolia is a species of lichen in the family Physciaceae. It has a worldwide distribution.Physcia aipolia is a known host species to the lichenicolous fungus species Muellerella lichenicola. It is characterized by the pale blue to gray thallus with many apothecia. Physcia aipolia is a common, widely distributed species, and can be found growing on a variety of trees and branches.
Amazonotrema is a monotypic genus of lichenised fungi in the family Graphidaceae. It was circumscribed in 2009 by Klaus Kalb and Robert Lücking for the species Amazonotrema nigrum. The type specimen of A. nigrum was collected from virgin rainforest along the Rio Negro in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Fuscopannaria leucosticta, commonly known as the rimmed shingle lichen, is a species of lichen in the family Pannariaceae. It has a squamulose (scaley) thallus that lacks soredia and isidia, but has abundant apothecia with distinct white rims. Although its main centres of distribution are eastern North America and southeast Asia, where it grows in damp forests, it has been reported from various other high-altitude, humid locations.
Candelariella clarkiae is a rare species of crustose lichen in the family Candelariaceae. It was discovered in Colorado, USA, and formally described as a new species in 2015 by lichenologists Erin Tripp and James Lendemer. It was originally published with the species epithet clarki, but this was subsequently corrected to clarkiae. The name honors Dina Clark, Collections Manager at the University of Colorado herbarium, for her significant contributions to the knowledge of the Colorado flora, particularly the high plains ecosystems flanking the Southern Rocky Mountains. The authors note of the lichen that "it is bright and sunny, just like Dina’s disposition".
Lecidea hoganii is a rare species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Lecideaceae. It is known to occur only in Boulder, Colorado, where it grows in association with other lichens in mixed saxicolous communities on sandstone in the Fox Hills Formation. The lichen is characterized by its thick white, chalky thallus, sessile to raised apothecia, presence of a dark pink pigment in the hymenium, and absence of secondary compounds.
Kurokawia palmulata, the shaggy fringe lichen, is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Physciaceae.
Parmotrema perforatum, commonly known as the perforated ruffle lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. The lichen was first formally described as new species in 1787 by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. It was transferred to the genus Parmotrema by Italian lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1860. The lichen is characterized by its apothecia often having a perforated hole in the center. The genus Parmotrema has a naked (white) zone on the underside margin and often has long hair-like projections on the lobe edges called cilia; P. perforatum is no different. The thallus is gray and lacks the yellow-green tones that is seen in lichens with usnic acid. There are no asexual structures, but there are apothecia that have the characteristic hole in the center.
Dirinaria picta is a species of lichen within the family Caliciaceae, classified under the order Caliciales in the class Lecanoromycetes of the division Ascomycota.
