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Rimularia Lichen

Rimularia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi. This page provides information about various species within the Rimularia genus.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

• Scientific Name: Rimularia Nyl.
• Family: Rimulariaceae
• Kingdom: Fungi
• Synonyms (for Rimularia insularis):
  • Lecidea insularis Nyl.
  • Lecidea intumescens (Flotow) Nyl.

Species Examples

• Rimularia furvella (Nyl. ex Mudd) Hertel & Rambold
• Rimularia badioatra (Kremp.)
• Rimularia gibbosa (Ach.) Coppins, Hertel & Rambold 1990
• Rimularia applanata
• Rimularia exigua
• Rimularia mullensis (Stirt.)
• Rimularia limborina Nyl., 1868
• Rimularia gyromuscosa Aptroot
• Rimularia caeca Rambold, G. Printzen, C. 1992
• Rimularia michoacanensis (B. de Lesd.)
• Rimularia paradoxa Timdal &amp W. A. Weber

Distribution and Habitat

• Rimularia species are found in various locations, including:
  • Northern and western montane rocks, especially schist.
  • The southern subpolar region.
  • Western Canada.
  • New South Wales, Australia (e.g., Rimularia exigua in a eucalypt forest).
  • Taiwan.
  • Tasmania (several endemic species).

Morphological Characteristics

• The thallus (body) of some Rimularia species is described as a grey-brown, cracked-areolate crust.
• Other species have a thallus that is grey to dark brown or black, matt, and cracked-areolate, sometimes with a visible black prothallus.
• Apothecia (fruiting bodies) are often minute and black, set in the thallus surface.

Ecological Role

• Rimularia insularis can form a photosynthetic thallus on lichens of the Lecanora rupicola group, behaving as a parasite. Some hyphae of the host are detectable within the thalli of R. insularis.
• Some Rimularia species can grow on other lichens.

Further Information

• Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region.
• British Lichen Society (BLS).
• Botanical Museum, University of Oslo.
• Index Fungorum
• ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System)
• Stridvall Lichens (Note: the provided link may be broken)