Buellia spuria
Buellia spuria (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  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Caliciales |
| Family: | Caliciaceae |
| Genus: | Buellia |
| Species: | B. spuria |
| Binomial name | |
| Buellia spuria (Schaer.) Anzi (1860) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
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]
References
- "Synonymy: Buellia spuria (Schaer.) Anzi". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
- Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 3,
- Photo Gallery, Joshua Tree Lichens, Joshua Tree National Park website, National Park Service,