Lepraria is a genus of leprose (powdery) crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains. Members of the genus are commonly called dust lichens. The main vegetative body (thallus) is made of patches of soredia. There are no known mechanisms for sexual reproduction, yet members of the genus continue to speciate. Some species can form marginal lobes and appear squamulose. Because of the morphological simplicity of the thallus and the absence of sexual structures, the composition of lichen products are important characters to distinguish between similar species in Lepraria.
Caloplaca durietzii, or Durietz's orange lichen, a smooth surfaced yellowish orange crustose areolate lichen with elongated lobes that grows on wood or bark in southwestern North America. It is commonly seen growing on old junipers in Joshua Tree National Monument in the Mojave Desert. It is in the Caloplaca fungus genus of the Teloschistaceae family.
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, and is less common in Canada and Mexico. 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 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.
Japewiella dollypartoniana is a species of crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It is widely distributed in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, and has also been reported from Ontario, Canada. The lichen grows on tree branches and sapling and shrub stems at middle to high elevations.
Vainionora americana is a species of crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae that is found in the United States. It was described as a species new to science in 2004 by the lichenologists Klaus Kalb, Tor Tønsberg, and John Alan Elix. The type was collected by Tønsberg from the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, where it was found growing on the bark of a maple tree. It was later recorded in Alabama.
Ochrolechia africana, commonly known as the frosty saucer lichen, is a species of crustose and corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Ochrolechiaceae. It is a widely distributed species, found in tropical and subtropical areas of southern Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America. The lichen is characterized by the presence of a white "frosty" or powdery apothecia.
Neoprotoparmelia capitata is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) and crustose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in eastern North America.
Chrysothrix bergeri is a species of crustose lichen in the family Chrysotrichaceae. It is found in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, where it grows as a bright yellow, powdery crust on the bark and wood of mostly hardwoods.
Lecidea tessellata is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Lecideaceae. It was formally described as a species in 1819 by German botanist Heinrich Flörke. In northern North America, it is common and widely distributed, growing on non-calcareous rocks. It also occurs in Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Europe, and Russian Asia. In India, it has been recorded only from the alpine Western Himalayas at an altitude of 3,450 m (11,320 ft). Its southern distribution extends to James Ross Island, where it is locally common.
Leptogium acadiense is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Collemataceae. Found in northeastern North America, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by James Hinds, Frances Anderson, and James Lendemer. The species epithet refers to the Acadian region of eastern North America, where the lichen seems to be most common.
Chrysothrix chamaecyparicola is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Chrysotrichaceae. Found in the eastern United States, it was formally described as a new species in 2010 by lichenologist James Lendemer. Initially thought to be a North American population of the lookalike Chrysothrix flavovirens, it is now recognized as a separate species due to its distinguishing characteristics. It is particularly noted for its strong affinity for the bark of Atlantic white cedar trees and its dominance in conifer swamps across eastern North America.
Fissurina alligatorensis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Characteristics of the lichen include its lack of secondary compounds and an ecorticate thallus. Its habitat is centred around the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, USA, and it has a preference for soft-barked trees. While it can easily be confused with other Fissurina species, there are specific characters that distinguish it, such as its violet ascospores and its lirellate fruiting bodies.
Phlyctis monosperma is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Phlyctidaceae. It is characterised by its greyish-white, loose, granular thallus, single-spored asci, and distinctive chemical substances. The lichen is found in the subtropical evergreen forests of the Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats of India, where it grows on rough tree bark in close association with plant-dwelling bryophytes at elevations above 2,000 m (6,600 ft). It also occurs in Sri Lanka.
Piccolia nannaria is a species of crustose lichen in the class Lecanoromycetes. It is widespread but uncommon in the coastal plain of southeastern North America. Initially thought to be corticolous (bark-dwelling), later collection of the lichen suggest that it may be lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling).
Pseudothelomma ocellatum is a species of lignicolous (wood-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Caliciaceae. This lichen is characterised by its grey, areolate thallus that produces abundant lichenised diaspores, such as short spherical isidia and coarse, dark brown-black soredia. It is typically sterile, meaning apothecia are absent.
Porina boliviana is a species of foliicolous (leaf-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Porinaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2008 by the lichenologists Adam Flakus and Robert Lücking. They named it after the country where it was discovered, Bolivia. Flakus collected the type specimen from Nuevos Reyes village in the José Ballivián Province, where he found it growing on palm tree leaves in a lowland Amazon forest.
Cyanoporina is a fungal genus in the division Ascomycota. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the division is unknown, and it has not yet been placed with certainty into any class, order, or family. The genus is monospecific, containing the single species Cyanoporina granulosa, a crustose lichen found in West Java, Indonesia.
Chicitaea is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Sarrameanaceae. Established in 2024, it comprises four species that grow as crusts on tree bark in forests across North America, Europe, Australia, and Thailand. The genus was separated from Loxospora based on molecular evidence and chemical differences, particularly the presence of 2'-O-methylperlatolic acid as the main secondary compound. The lichens appear in shades from pale grey-green to olive-grey and can reproduce through both vegetative structures and, in one species, through sexual spore-producing structures (apothecia).
Peltigera hydrothyria, commonly known as the waterfan, is a relatively rare aquatic lichen in the family Peltigeraceae, native to North America. It grows in cold, clean mountain streams, where it attaches to rocks and bedrock in shaded, riparian habitats. First described in 1856 as Hydrothyria venosa, it was initially placed in its own genus due to its distinctive gelatinous thallus and aquatic lifestyle. Molecular studies later demonstrated its affinity with the genus Peltigera, leading to its reclassification in 2000. The lichen forms small, blackish rosettes with ruffled margins and prominent veining, features that help it thrive in submerged or semi-aquatic habitats.
