Lichens of the Santa Rosa Plateau Found On Rocks

This page gives a checklist of lichens found on rocks at the Santa Rosa Plateau. See Lichens of the Santa Rosa Plateau for a complete list of lichens found here.

The habitat of these lichens at the SRP, as reported by Weber, Bratt and Larson 1987, is broken down into these categories: large rock outcrops, boulders, and small rocks. If Weber et al made no notation of abundance, the corresponding column simply has an "x". If they note that a taxon was common, the column has a "c". Taxa found infrequently are noted by "i", and rare taxa, often encountered only once, are noted by "r".

The table is organized by growth form, with growth forms having the fewest taxa given first.

Identification Notes are intended to help pin down an identification in the field, assuming the specimen being identified is one of these taxa. These notes come from genus or species descriptions in Lichens of North America (LNA) or Lichens of California (LoC). I have not yet field tested any of these, but I intend to do so soon, and add identifying characteristics appropriate to the SRP plants, as well as pictures.

Version for printing, without the table lines and other text on this page (3 pages)

#	Latin Name	Common Name	O t c p	B l d r s	S m R k s	LoC Des Pg	LoC Img Pg	LNA Des Pg	LNA Img Pg	Identification Notes
Fruticose
1	SPILONEMA revertens	rock hairball lichen	x			-	-	659	605	on horizontal flow lines near plateau tops; small patches or cushions 5-15 mm across consisting of reddish brown to black (greenish black when wet), spiny, filamentous branches; apothecia uncommon, 0.2-0.5 mm diameter, buried among the branches
Squamulose
2	PELTULA euploca	powdery rock-olive	x				214	523	524	on horizontal flow lines near plateau tops; clearly umbilicate; squamules 1.5-3(10) mm diameter
3	PSORA sp. indet.	(scale)			i			(597)		brown with central convex fruiting body; attached by hairy tomentum
Foliose
4	FLAVOPARMELIA caperata	common greenshield lichen	c			-	-	317	317	pale yellow-green when dry; greener when wet, lower surface black, upper surface often strongly wrinkled in older parts, lobes rounded, 3-8 mm wide; granular soredia present
5	FLAVOPUNCTELIA flaventior	speckled greenshield	x			-	-	317	318	yellow-green with white spots on lobes; lower surface black, with a brown edge; lobes rounded, 4-8 mm wide; soredia on margins and upper lobe surface; not supposed to be on anything other than trees!
6	NEOFUSCELIA subhosseana	erupted camouflage lichen		x	i	-	-	451	451	yellowish-brown to reddish-brown, lobes 1-3 mm wide, with ~0.2 mm disintegrating isidia pustules; lower surface black to pale brown; soredia absent, but schidizia present
7	PHYSCIA callosa	beaded rosette lichen	c				99	553	554	clear, almost shiny, uniform gray to almost white, with no white spots; lobes downturned, 0.4-2 mm wide, becoming divided into lobules at tips; lower surface white to pale tan with abundant pale rhizines; soredia on undersides and margins of lobe tips.
8	UMBILICARIA phaea	Emery rock tripe			c	-	-	706	706	smooth, shiny, brown, unlobed, brittle; lower surface pale, rough and papillate, umbilicate (mostly without rhizines); apothecia (disk-shaped fruiting body) common, black, partially embeded, small, angular to star shaped, in concentric circles; to 6 cm across
	XANTHOPARMELIA	(rock-shield)						(733)		yellow-green, lobes mostly 0.5-4 mm wide; lower surface pale brown to ebony black, rhizines unbranched or forked, usually abundant; soredia usually absent, but often with cylindric or globose isidia
9	XANTHOPARMELIA coloradoensis	(rock-shield)		x		-	-	~738		like X. lineola, but loosely attached with some overlapping lobes.
10	XANTHOPARMELIA conspersa	peppered rock-shield			c	-	-	735	736	shiny, browned at margins; lobes narrow, 1-3 mm wide, crowded and often overlapping, with sparse to dense cylindrical isidia on upper surface; lower surface pitch black except for a pale to dark brown area close to lobe tips, closely to loosely attached; fruiting bodies rare
11	XANTHOPARMELIA lineola	tight rock-shield			c		124	738	738	dull, often darkening on older parts, forming large, closely attached patches; thick rounded or irregular contiguous lobes 0.8-3(5) mm wide, sometimes crowded or overlapping, without isidia or soredia; lower surface pale brown, often wrinkled and cracked, with pale rhizines; fruiting bodies common, ~raised, 2-5 mm diameter.
12	XANTHOPARMELIA mexicana	salted rock-shield		x			16	738	739	often shiny at lobe tips; lobes rounded, 1.5-5 mm wide, with dense, globose isidia that ~become cylindrical and branched; lower surface pale brown or smoky gray-brown at margins, closely to loosely attached; fruiting bodies rare.
Crustose
13	ACAROSPORA fuscata	brown cobblestone lichen	x		c			146	146	often shiny, yellowish-brown to deep reddish-brown, broken into tiles, tiles often becoming slightly lifted at the edges and becoming squamulose, dispersed or continuous, 0.5-2(3) mm wide, gen with 1-5 darker brown, irregular disks of immersed fruiting bodies in the centers
14	ACAROSPORA schleicheri	soil paint lichen			c			147	147	pale to bright sulphur yellow, sometimes pruinose, squamulose-areolate, often lobed at margins, with large red-brown, sometimes scabrous, embedded fruiting bodies; only on soil??
15	AMANDINEA punctata	tiny button lichen			c			158	159	gray to brownish, green when wet; thin and barely perceptible to moderately thick, cracked or areolate; fruiting body 0.2-0.5 mm in diameter, with a thin black margin often disappearing in maturity
16	ASPICILIA cf. americana	(sunken disk lichen)		x				(167)		large, thin, dull-greenish-gray with flat to concave areoles
17	ASPICILIA cf. gibbosa	(sunken disk lichen)	c	x				(167)		gray-green
18	BUELLIA badia	(button lichen)			i			(186)		strongly ascending and clumped squamules; white, gray, brown or yellowish; fruiting body with rim same color as disk
	CALOPLACA	(firedot lichen)						(194)		bright orange or yellow orange in either thallus or fruiting body; apothecia margins usually rimmed with a different color
19	CALOPLACA decipiens	(firedot lichen)	r					~198		produces piles of granular, orange soredia at the tips of overlapping lobes in older parts of the thallus
20	CALOPLACA demissa	(firedot lichen)		r
21	CALOPLACA saxicola	(firedot lichen)			c			~202		orange to yellow-orange, with convex, scabrose lobes; apothecia orange with paler, yellow margins
22	CALOPLACA subsoluta	(firedot lichen)		c
23	CANDELARIELLA vitellina	common goldspeck lichen		c				208	209	bright yellow little cushions of flattened granules, very slightly crenulate at edges sometimes, or just scattered yellow areoles; apothecia 0.5-1.5 mm diameter, often crowded
24	DIMELAENA oreina	golden moonglow lichen		r				300	301	greenish yellow, sometimes blackening at edges of lobes or areoles; areoles 0.3-1 mm diameter; lobes, when present, mostly 0.5-1 mm wide, 1-3 mm long; apothecia black, level with thallus surface, often with a thalline margin or just embedded in thallus
25	DIMELAENA radiata	silver moonglow lichen		r				300	301	milky white to brownish gray, usually heavily pruinose, or pale yellow brown if not pruinose; apothecia immersed to sessile, black, often wrinkled
26	DIPLOSCHISTES actinostomus	(crater lichen)	x					(303)		gray; fruiting body with rim different color than disk
27	DIPLOSCHISTES scruposus	crater lichen			c			304	304	almost white or greenish-gray, thick, verrucose or areolate, without pruina; fruiting body black, crater-like, 0.5-1.5(3) mm diameter, embedded, with rim different color than disk, often with a double margin
	LECANORA	(rim-lichen)						(372)		yellowish, gray, brown or greenish, often sorediate; fruiting body with rim different color than disk, often pruinose
28	LECANORA gangaleoides	(rim-lichen)	r					~677		apothecia black
29	LECANORA mellea	(rim-lichen)		i				~374		honey-brown, often shiny; apothecia without pruina but rarely seen
30	LECANORA muralis	stonewall rim-lichen			x			383	383	light yellowish-green, waxy, with little or no pruina; areolate in center of thallus, becoming lobed at margins, sometimes squamulose; marginal lobes very flat, closely appressed, 0.3-0.6 mm wide; apothecia yellow- to red-brown, not pruinose, with ~thick thallus-colored margins
31	LECANORA scotopholis	(rim-lichen)	c	c	c
32	LECIDEA fuscoatra	(tile lichen)	i					~392		pale brown to gray brown areoles, (thick rimose to areolate or squamulose to almost lobate, or almost hidden within the substrate; with black to dark brown, superficial to sunken, lecidiene apothecia usually rimmed with disk-colored margins)
33	LECIDEA tessellata	tile lichen			i			393	393	chalky white to blue-gray, forming round patches of well-defined, tile-like areoles bordered by a conspicuous charcoal gray to black prothallus; apothecia black, sunken between the areoles, or prominent
34	LECIDELLA carpathica	(disk lichen)			i			~392		white, areolate to verrucose; (apothecia lecidiene, pitch black and often shiny, with black margins)
35	#LICHENOTHELIA scopularia			c	c					dark stain; fruiting body with rim same color as disk
36	THELOMMA mammosum	rock nipple lichen	x	c				680	680	thick, pale gray to dark yellowish gray, areolate to verrucose; fertile verrucae smooth, shaped like volcanoes or nipples, 0.8-1.6 mm diameter; fruiting body circular, flat open center, black-powdery to the touch, raised on a stalk; no hymenium)
37	TRAPELIA involuta	pebble lichen						685	685	on soft periodically-wetted rocks in road cut; pale gray-green, sometimes pinkish brown in part, at first consisting of small, dispersed or contiguous areoles, often somewhat lobes at edge, without soredia or isidia; apothecia dark red-brown to almost black, 0.4-0.7(1.0) diameter, marginless or often with a thin, thallus-colored, ragged margin, sometimes appearing as two margins

#	various related fungi of uncertain status: i.e., those which are questionably or weakly lichen-forming; or algicolous/saprophytic; or parasitic when young but saprophytic or lichen-forming when mature

Go to:

• Field Guide to the Santa Rosa Plateau: Lichens