Global occurrence: Eurasia – Asia Extratropical | Eurasia – Europe | Americas – North America (incl Mexico) | Eurasia – Asia Tropical | Arctic.  Substrate: soil, clay, humus, turf, detritus, dead leaves | bryophytes – mosses, liverworts.  Life habit: lichenized (mutualistic with algal photobionts).  Thallus: crustose (crustaceous) – episubstratal – unspecified; continuous, diffuse, effuse | granular, granulose, granulate; [th] upper surface: white(ish) | green(ish) grey | white(ish) grey; [th upper surface]: epruinose; [th marginal and upper surface] specific structures: absent; [th] morphol substructures (eg areoles, lobes, branches) width [mm]: (min) 0.04 (low) 0.1 (high) 0.3 (max) 0.5; [th] morphol substructures (eg areoles, squamules): contiguous, coherent (throughout the thallus); [th] morphol substructures (eg areoles, lobes, branches) upper surface: granulose, granular | verrucose, warted.  Ascomata: absent | present; ascoma: apothecial, apothecioid – hymenial; ascoma [mm]: (low) 0.3 (high) 0.9 (max) 1.5; [ascm, if apoth] disc, mazaedium: plane, flat, flattened, expanded | subconvex, slightly convex | convex | strongly convex, hemispherical, (sub-)globose; [ascm, if apoth] disc, mazaedium: black(ish) | brown(ish) (if pale: fawn, tan; if mid: cinnamon) | black(ish) brown; [ascm, if apoth] margin surface; [if perith] periostiolar area, ostiole, involucrellum: red(dish) brown (if pale: orange brown); [ascm, if apoth] subhymenial layers, hypothecium; [if perith] basal excipulum: red(dish) brown (if pale: orange brown); [ascm] paraphyses/-oids: present; [ascm] paraphyses/-oid cells width [µm]: (low) 1.5 (high) 2.0 (max) 2.5; [ascm] paraphyses/-oid apical cells width [µm]: (low) 4.0 (high) 5.0 (max) 6.0; [ascm] epihymenium, epithecium: yellow(ish) brown.  Asci: lecanoralean; [asc] tholus: thickened; [asc] tholus amyloidity (iodine reaction): present; [asc] tholus amyloidity pattern: with amyloid tube, ring (= Collema-, Micarea-, Porpidia-, Psora-types etc).  Ascospores: (median) 8.0; [asp] shape: elongate-fusiform, ellipsoidal-fusiform; [asp] length [µm]: (min) 9.0 (low) 11.0 (high) 16.0 (max) 19.0; [asp] width [µm]: (low) 4.0 (high) 5.0 (max) 6.0; [asp] septa: absent – spore lumen unilocular, monolocular; [asp] pigmentation: hyaline, colourless; [asp] perispore, epispore: ornamented, rough, warted, striate, cracked.  Secondary metabolites: absent.  Primary photobiont: present, chlorophytaceous – trebouxiaceous, chlorococcoid.  Secondary photobionts (eg in cephalodia): absent.

Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2004. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 2.

Thallus: composed of minute warts areoles: irregular in outline, moderately to strongly convex, sometimes marginally incised, 0.05-0.3 mm in diam. surface: greenish gray to pale ochre, dull, esorediate cortex: poorly developed, hyaline, 5-10 µm thick medulla: mostly lacking; algal layer: 70-100 µm thick Apothecia: rounded to somewhat deformed, sessile with a constricted base, 0.35-0.8(-1.1) mm wide disc: reddish brown to brown-black, initially concave, soon plane or weakly convex margin: same color as disc or paler outside, persistent or excluded in older apothecia exciple: brown in upper parts or near hymenium, usually lighter brown or almost hyaline below, laterally 50-80 µm, basally 95-250 µm wide, composed of radiating hyphae with 1-4.5 µm to apically 2-6.5 µm wide lumina epihymenium: orange brown or red-brown, 5-15 µm high, often poorly delimited against hymenium hymenium: hyaline, sometimes with pale brown stripes, rarely with blackish blue granules of "hypnorum-blue", 55-75 µm tall; paraphyses: hyaline or pale brown at the apices, below 1-2 (-3) µm wide to apically 1.5-4.5(-6.5) µm wide lumina, weakly branched and anastomosing subhymenium: often darker than hypothecium, rarely with blackish blue granules of "hypnorum-blue" (Meyer and Printzen 2000) hypothecium: brown; hypothecium and subhymenium: together 175-270 µm thick asci: clavate, ±Porpidia-type, with a I+ blue tholus containing a distinct darker blue tube structure in the center, 8-spored ascospores: hyaline, simple, fusiform-ellipsoid, (8.5-)10.4-14.8(-16.5) x (3.8 )4.4-5(-5.5) µm; walls: often with a rough perispore 0.5 µm wide Pycnidia: not seen. Spot tests: thallus K-, C-, KC-, P- Secondary metabolites: none detected by TLC. Substrate and ecology: on bryophytes over rock and soil between c. 600 and 3350 m World distribution: circumpolar in boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere Sonoran distribution: Arizona and southern California. Notes: In Sonoran specimens the thallus is rather thin and brittle compared with European material. So far Lecidea berengeriana is the only muscicolous/ terricolous Sonoran species of Lecidea s. lat. Mycobilimbia carneoalbida and M. tetramera can be similar in outward appearance, but are distinguished by having 3-septate spores, narrower paraphyses and excipular hyphae and a paler hypothecium. Mycobilimbia olivacea has a similar ascus type and spores, but it grows on wood and bark and is readily distinguished by its dark green, subsquamulose thallus, ±emarginate apothecia, and its hyaline hypothecium.