Rock tripe is the common name for various lichens of the genus Umbilicaria that grow on rocks. They are widely distributed, including on bare rock in Antarctica, and throughout northern parts of North America such as New England and the Rocky Mountains. They are edible when properly prepared; soaking extensively and boiling with changes of water removes the bitterness and purgative properties. They have been used as a famine food in extreme cases when other food sources were unavailable, as by early American northern explorers.
Cetraria is a genus of fruticose lichens that associate with green algae as photobionts. Most species are found at high latitudes, occurring on sand or heath. Species have a characteristic "strap-like" form, with spiny lobe edges.
Bacidia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Giuseppe De Notaris in 1846. Species in the genus are crust-like lichens with stemless apothecia; they have green algae as photobionts. Their asci have 8 colourless, cylindrical to acicular, multiseptate spores, with curved and thread-like conidia.
Cliostomum is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. It has about 25 species.
Amandinea is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Caliciaceae. Genetic studies indicates that the genus Amandinea and Buellia are the same, although this is not widely accepted.
Thelocarpon is a genus of fungi in the family Thelocarpaceae.
Carbonea is a genus of fungi in the family Lecanoraceae. Most of the species grow on lichens. The genus is widespread, and contains 20 species. Carbonea was originally circumscribed as a subgenus of Lecidea in 1967 before it was promoted to generic status in 1983.
Miriquidica is a genus of lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. The genus was circumscribed in 1987 by lichenologists Hannes Hertel and Gerhard Rambold, with Miriquidica complanata assigned as the type species. According to Dictionary of the Fungi, the widespread genus contains 23 species, found predominantly in arctic-alpine regions.
Placynthium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Placynthiaceae. Members of this genus are commonly called blackthread lichens.
Rhizocarpon is a genus of crustose, saxicolous, lecideoid lichens in the family Rhizocarpaceae. The genus is common in arctic-alpine environments, but also occurs throughout temperate, subtropical, and even tropical regions. They are commonly known as map lichens because of the prothallus forming border-like bands between colonies in some species, like the common map lichen.
Fuscidea is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Fuscideaceae. It has about 40 species. The genus was circumscribed in 1972 by lichenologists Volkmar Wirth and Antonín Vězda, with Fuscidea aggregatilis assigned as the type species.
Lepraria is a genus of leprose 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.
Tephromela is a genus of lichens in the family Tephromelataceae. There are about 25 species in this widespread genus.
Scytinium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Collemataceae. It has 49 species. These lichens are typically found on basic rocks, soil, and trees, occasionally in association with mosses. Despite the morphological and ecological diversity within Scytinium, its species share similar ascospore features, such as shape and septation, as well as a small to medium-sized thallus with at least a partial cortex.
Lambiella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Xylographaceae. The genus was circumscribed by German botanist Hannes Hertel in 1984, with Lambiella psephota assigned as the type species.
