''Verrucaria halizoa'' is a widespread species of

saxicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

(rock-dwelling),

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

in the family

Verrucariaceae Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on lan ...

. It was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

as a new species in 1871 by

William Allport Leighton William Allport Leighton (17 May 1805 – 28 February 1889) was an English Church of England clergyman and botanist. Life He was the only son of William and Lucy Maria Leighton. His mother was the daughter and coheiress of John Allport of Presc ...

. The lichen has a thin, superficial

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

that is pale olive-green to brown in colour; it lacks ridges or . The thallus is somewhat gelatinous, and more or less translucent when moist. It grows in shaded nooks and crannies among seashore rocks, in the mid-

littoral zone The littoral zone, also called litoral or nearshore, is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely flood ...

. The widely distributed species occurs in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, the

subantarctic islands The sub-Antarctic zone is a physiographic region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region inc ...

, and Antarctica.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10714357 halizoa Lichen species Lichens described in 1871 Lichens of the Antarctic Lichens of Asia Lichens of Australia Lichens of Europe Lichens of North America Taxa named by William Allport Leighton

See also

References