Buellia spuria, the disc lichen, is a white to light ashy gray crustose areolate lichen that grows on rocks (epilithic) in montane habitats.[2] It has a black edge from the conspicuous, more or less continuous prothallus, which can also be seen in the cracks between the areolas forming a hypothallus, and in sharp contrast with the whitish or ashy colored areolas.[2] It prefers mafic (siliceous) rock substrates.[2] In Joshua Tree National Park is can be seen on vertical granite and gneiss faces in washes.[3] It is common worldwide in the Northern Hemisphere.[2] It is very common in the Sonoran Desert from southern California to Arizona, Baja California, and Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, Mexico.[2]

Buellia spuria
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Caliciales
Family: Caliciaceae
Genus: Buellia
Species:
B. spuria
Binomial name
Buellia spuria
(Schaer.) Anzi (1860)
Synonyms[1]
  • Lecidea spuria Schaer. (1828)

It is similar in appearance to Buellia stellulata, but has a different secondary chemistry, and B. spuria is common throughout the Sonoran Desert region, while B. stellulata is restricted to coastal regions.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Synonymy: Buellia spuria (Schaer.) Anzi". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 3, [1]
  3. ^ Photo Gallery, Joshua Tree Lichens, Joshua Tree National Park website, National Park Service, [2]