SafePlants

Schaereria Lichen

Considerations for Pets

• Some species of Schaereria lichens are crustose, potentially growing on surfaces accessible to pets.

Considerations for Children

• Some species of Schaereria lichens are crustose, potentially growing on surfaces accessible to children.

Scientific Name and Common Names

• Scientific Name: Schaereria fuscocinerea (Nyl.) Clauzade &amp Cl. Roux
• Common Names: Schaereria Lichen, False Map Lichen

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

• Family: Agyriaceae (for Schaereria brunnea)
• Rank: Species
• Synonyms:
  • Schaereria fuscocinerea Fr.
  • Schaereria tenebrosa (Flotow) Hertel &amp Poelt (Synonym for False Map Lichen)
  • Lecidea cinereorufa Schaerer (Synonym for Schaereria cinereorufa)
  • Lecidea rugosa Lowe (Synonym for Schaereria cinereorufa)
• Taxonomic Status: Accepted
• Name Form: Well-formed
• Taxon Reference: Schaereria fuscocinerea var. fuscocinerea (Nyl.) Clauzade &amp Cl. Roux, NHMSYS0001497118

Distribution and Habitat

• Occurs in the Greater Sonoran Desert.
• Found in Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with disjunctions in Maine, Arizona, and Colorado.
• Species found in the Aegean.
• Also found in China, Yunnan.
• Schaereria bullata is found in alpine Tasmania.
• Schaereria dolodes is found in western North America.
• Documented in Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada.
• Found growing at high altitudes in continental Antarctica and sub-Antarctic South.
• Habitat in Pointe du Van.

Morphological Characteristics and Growth Habits

• Thallus is crustose, with milky-coffee to grey- or dark-brown areoles set on a black prothallus.
• Apothecia are black, irregular in shape, lacking thalline margins.
• Schaereria dolodes is a brown crustose lichen with black apothecium.

Interactions with Other Organisms

• Can be a host to lichenicolous fungi.
• Algal communities can colonize lichen thalli.
• Observed growing on the edge of a rock with Caloplaca Candelariella.

Quirky Facts

• Lichens are made up of two and sometimes three organisms.

Resources and Further Information

• Greater Sonoran Desert Lichen Flora (Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., eds. 2001)
• The British Lichen Society
• Dobson, F.S. (2000) (Fth edition) Lichens: An illustrated guide to the British and Irish species. The Richmond
• LIASlight ItemID: 5748
• Canadian Jnal of ... "Lichens from the area drained by the Peel and Mackenzie rivers, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. II. Microlichens."