Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2002. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 1.
Life habit: lichenized Thallus: foliose, circular in outline or irregularly spreading, 4-30 cm wide, loosely adnate to adnate, lobate lobes: flat to convex, discrete, often loosely imbricate, elongate, mostly >4 mm wide, tips sometimes ascending, eciliate upper surface: pale tan or gray, dull or somewhat shiny, maculate or not, pseudocyphellate or not; with or without isidia; soredia absent upper cortex: scleroplectenchymatous (separate hyphae not distinguishable) with a non-pored epicortex medulla: white, with or without a condroid strand, hyphae walls containing Cetraria-type lichenan photobiont: either chlorococcoid alga (often with internal cephalodia with a cyanobacterium) or a cyanobacterium lower cortex: poorly developed prosoplectenchymatous lower surface: pale tan, tomentose, rhizinate; rhizines simple or sparingly branched, stout, apically with a squarrose tuft Ascomata: apothecial, lecanorine, laminal, sessile to substipitate; margin: initially inrolled, strongly and irregularly crenate; disc: light brown to brown, eperforate; epithecium: pale brown; hymenium and hypothecium colorless; paraphyses: simple or forked above, apices clavate, pale brown with a dark brown cap asci: cylindrical, Lecanora-type; 8-spored ascospores: acicular, colorless, straight to slightly curved, 7-septate at maturity Conidiomata: pycnidial, brown-black, immersed, punctiform conidia: simple, bacilliform, colorless Secondary metabolites: depsides, depsidones and aliphatic acids Geography: neotropics, from Brazil to central Mexico Substrate: common on rocks; less common on bark. Notes: Durietzia was initially proposed as subgenus by Dodge (1964) and is a recent segregate from Lobaria for species that have white dots (maculae and/or pseudocyphellae) on the upper surface (Yoshimura 1998a & b) but this name was previously used (Gyelnik 1940) and consequently is emended here to Lobariella. In contrast to Pseudocyphellaria, which has pseudocyphellae on the lower surface, Lobariella has pseudocyphellae on the upper surface. Lobaria in the restricted sense lacks pseudocyphellae on either surface. Occasionally species of Punctelia, a parmelioid genus with pseudocyphellae on the upper surface, may be mistaken for Lobariella, but the former genus does not have tomentum on the lower surface, usually is more narrow lobed and has simple spores.