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Lignicolous Lecanora - near L. saligna?

  • 16 Feb 2026 3:05 PM
    Message # 13598880

    Hi all,


    I found this interesting crustose lichen on a rotting wooden fence post in central California recently.  I am thinking it is quite close to L. saligna, although I am not sure I understand how to distinguish that species from L. coniferarum or other similar species...  My description: Lignicolous crust with tiny apothecia. The thallus is tan, granular and dispersed and the apothecia are about 0.2-0.5 mm in diameter and show a dark disc and a thalline rim. Apothecial cross-sections show a green algal photobiont. The hymenium is hyaline and the epihymenium is brown-orange. Asci contain eight simple, hyaline spores per ascus, measuring 12 x 5 microns with little variation in size. Spot tests are all negative, as is UV. There are yellowish polarizable crystals in the hymenium and epihymenium that dissolve in K.

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  • 17 Feb 2026 7:55 AM
    Reply # 13599074 on 13598880
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    You are definitely in the right group. It has been recently revised by Ivanovich et al. (2025). I think you can rule out coniferarum because the excipular cortex is thin and even to the base. I think this would key out to Lecanoropsis micans or L. saligna. The apothecia are distinctly glossy in the former -- hard to say for sure from the photos -- and the spore sizes are slightly different, but your measurements are in range for both.

    https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.695.1.1

    I have a draft key for the West Coast of N Am using the key in Ivanovich et al. as a starting point.

  • 17 Feb 2026 4:16 PM
    Reply # 13599305 on 13598880

    Many thanks, Bruce!  I'll check out that 2025 reference. 

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