Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca (orange rim lichen,[1] rock-posy lichen, rockbright) is a pale yellowish-green to gray-green umbilicate foiliose lichen in the Lecanoraceae (rim lichen) family.[2][3] It was first described in 1791 by English botanist Sir James Edward Smith as Lichen chrysoleucus; Friedrich Wilhelm Zopf transferred it to the genus Rhizoplaca in 1905.
| Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Lecanoraceae |
| Genus: | Rhizoplaca |
| Species: | R. chrysoleuca
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| Binomial name | |
| Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca | |
| Synonyms | |
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The single-leaf (monophyllous) umbilicate thallus can be 2–3.5 cm in width, with deep lobes.[3] The thallus is relatively thick and lumpy with warts and lobules.[2] The fruiting structures (apothecia have lightly pruinose, burnt-orange to tan discs rimmed, with a contrasting rim of pale greenish thallus-like tissue making them easy to identify.[2] Apothecia are 0.8–2.5 mm diameter, and often numerous and crowded into each other.[3]
It grows in Eurasia and western North America. In the Sonoran Desert region it grows at elevations from 1,200 to 3,200 metres (3,900 to 10,500 ft).[3] It prefers siliceous rock, granite, schist, quartz, mica, and basalt, but is also found on sandstone and less commonly on calcareous rock.[3] It grows from the high desert to the alpine zone.[3] It is often nitrophilous,[3] preferring dropping areas under bird perches.[citation needed] It is common on rock in inland arid mountain and desert habitats in California.[2]: 118
Lichen spot tests are K+ yellow or K−, KC+ yellow-orange, C−, and P− on the cortex, and K−, KC+ red or KC−, C−, and P+ yellow or P− on the medulla.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Standardized Common Names for Wild Species in Canada". National General Status Working Group. 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-19500-2
- ^ a b c d e f g Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region, Vol 1, Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001, [1]