''Lecidea laboriosa'' is a species of lichen that grows inside solid rock ( endolithic), with only the small black disc-like fruiting bodies (

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...

) visible above the rock surface.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 2, Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001

/ref> Unlike other members of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Lecidea ''Lecidea'' is a genus of crustose lichens with a carbon black ring or outer margin (exciple) around the fruiting body disc (apothecium), usually (or always) found growing on (saxicolous) or in ( endolithic) rock.Field Guide to California Lichen ...

'', the apothecia are not

lecideine A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.exciple A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. It is similar in appearance to ''

Catillaria lenticularis ''Catillaria'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Catillariaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Italian lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1852. It is the type genus of Catillariaceae, which was circumscribed by Austrian ...

'', ''

Polyspora simplex Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sourc ...

'', and ''

Sarcogyne clavus ''Sarcogyne'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Acarosporaceae. It was circumscribed by German botanist Julius von Flotow in 1850. A proposal has been put forth in 2021 to assign '' Sarcogyne clavus'' as the type species In zoologica ...

''. It is negative to lichen spot tests, K−, P−, C−.

References

Lichen species Lecideales Lichens described in 1874 Fungi of California Fungi without expected TNC conservation status Taxa named by Johannes Müller Argoviensis {{Lecanoromycetes-stub

See also

References