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dot lichen

Scientific Name: Arthonia quintaria

Family: Arthoniaceae

Category: Lichen

Growth: Lichenous

Duration:

Other Names:

       

Dot Lichen

The common name "Dot Lichen" refers to lichens belonging to the genera Arthonia or Micarea. "Dotted lichens" are associated with the genus Bacidia.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

  • Kingdom: Fungi
  • Phylum: Ascomycota
  • Class: Lecanoromycetes
  • Family: Arthoniaceae (for some Dot Lichens) and Micareaceae (for Erratic Dot Lichen). Icmadophilaceae for Pink Dot Lichen
  • Genus: Arthonia, Micarea, Bacidia, among others.
  • Synonyms: Some species, like City Dot Lichen (Scoliciosporum chlorococcum), have synonyms such as Bacidia chlorococca.

Common Names and Species Examples

  • Birchbark Dot Lichen (Leptorhaphis epidermidis or Leptorhaphis atomaria)
  • Orange Dot Lichen (Protoblastenia rupestris)
  • Hidden Dot Lichen (Japewia tornoensis)
  • Pink Dot Lichen (Dibaeis absoluta)
  • Erratic Dot Lichen (Micarea erratica)
  • Granite firedot lichen (Caloplaca arenaria)
  • Frosty-rimmed Dot Lichen (Bacidia rubella)
  • City Dot Lichen (Scoliciosporum chlorococcum)
  • Sulfur Firedot Lichen
  • Dispersed dot lichen (Arthonia dispersa)
  • Tuckerman's dot lichen (Arthonia tuckermaniana)
  • Nitschke's dot lichen (Micarea nitschkeana)
  • Dot Lichen (Arthonia glebosa)
  • cherry-laurel dot lichen

Distribution and Habitat

  • Dot Lichens are found in various locations, including Mount Rainier National Park, New Orleans, and Bahia Honda Key, Florida (on Palm tree bark).
  • They can be found growing on rocks and tree bark.

Morphological Characteristics

  • Mycobilimbia pilularis ('Dot Lichen') is a crustose lichen with a grayish-green thallus without soredia or isidia and yellowy brown biatorine, convex apothecia.
  • Pink Dot Lichen (Dibaeis absoluta) has pink apothecia born on very short stalks (approximately 1 mm).
  • Some lichens grow in small dots.

Quirky Facts

  • Dot lichens can have unexpected common names, as exemplified by "Scatter-dot Goldspeck Lichen" and "Six-celled moss-dot."
  • A headline in the Times read: "I'm lichen it!" referring to eating oak moss.

Further Information

  • Encyclopedia of Life
  • Catalogue of Life
  • USDA Plants Database
  • Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany
  • ResearchGate (for Conservation Assessments)
  • WikiSpecies