Acarospora obnubila
Acarospora obnubila ("cloudy cobblestone lichen") is a dull brown squamulose areolate crustose lichen that may grow up to 4 mm in diameter or with squamules scattered among other lichens.[1]: 217 [2] They are common in Arizona, southern California, and Baja California.[2] They grow by themselves on acidic rock in full sunlight.[2] Squamules measure up to 2 mm in diameter and are round to irregular, with have a stipe.[2][1]: 217 They may also grow on members of the genus Aspicilia (lichenicolous).[2] Competition for space with other lichens stimulates longer stipes to develop,[2] whereby the squamules may overlay other lichens.
Acarospora obnubila | |
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Closeup of fertile areoles at 30X magnification | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
Order: | Acarosporales |
Family: | Acarosporaceae |
Genus: | Acarospora |
Species: | A. obnubila |
Binomial name | |
Acarospora obnubila H.Magn. (1929) | |
There are 0-16 apothecia per squamule, that may are pointlike (punctiform) with a reddish-brown round concave 0.1–0.3 mm disc that is deeply immersed in the thallus tissue.[2] In very high elevations, the apothecia may rise as warty (verrucae) structure with thallus-like tissue (pseudo-lecanorine ) collaring discs that may be up to 1 mm diameter, with only one per squamule.[2] Lichen spot tests are all negative, with no known secondary metabolites (as of 2014).[2] A. obnubila was first described scientifically by lichenologist Adolf Hugo Magnusson in 1929.[3]
References
- Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-19500-2
- Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 3., Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001,
- Magnusson AH. (1929). "A monograph of the genus Acarospora". Kongliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlinger. 7 (4 (III)): 263.