Morphology.Thallus crustose, blue-green to green or brown-green, continuous, thin and film-like to somewhat scurfy and poorly developed, giving the appearance of a leprose crust. Prothallus indistinct or a thin network of white fibrous hyphae, typically only visible near the thallus margins. Vegetative diaspores absent. Photobiont coccoid green alga (Chlorococcaceae), cells 5 – 8 μm diam. Ascomata biatorine apothecia, scattered, 0.2–0.4 mm diam., dark brownish-black or olive; disk epruinose, plane to slightly convex; margin white, byssoid, a variably developed layer of tangled fungal hyphae giving the appearance of white cotton fuzz, rarely excluded or absent.
Ascomatal anatomy. Exciple hyaline; epihymenium hyaline to somewhat brownish; hymenium hyaline, not inspersed; paraphyses simple to sparingly branched; hypothecium dark brown. Asci 8-spored, clavate, 35-45 x 10-16 μm; ascospores hyaline, 4-celled, fusiform to narrowly ellipsoid, slightly constricted at septa, cells of equal size, 10–20 × 2–4 μm.
Conidiomata not seen.
Chemistry. Spot tests negative; secondary metabolites not detected via TLC.
Substrate and habitat. Corticolous on hardwood trees; foliicolous on evergreen leaves; lignicolous on wood and bark of conifers (e.g., Taxodium) in various forested habitats.
Distribution. Pantropical to Cosmopolitan; in North Carolina found throughout.
Literature
Lendemer, J. & N. Noell (2018) Delmarva Lichens: an illustrated manual. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Society28: 1-350.
Kumar, S.S. & Y.L. Krishnamurthy (2016) Notes on three new records of foliicolous lichens from Karnataka Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa8(6): 8950-8952.
Nylander, W. (1863) Lichenes. In Prodromus Florae Novo-Granatensis ou Enumeration des Plantes de la Nouvelle-Grenade avec description des especes Nouvelles, par MM. J. Triana et J.E. Planchon. Annales des sciences naturelles Botanique4: 286-382 (original description as Lecidea leucoblepharum).