Specimen image via iDigBio · CC0
Rhizocarpon
Sign in to saveRhizocarpon is a genus of crustose, saxicolous (or sometimes lichenicolous), lichens in the family Rhizocarpaceae. The genus is common in arctic-alpine environments, but also occurs throughout temperate, subtropical, and even tropical regions. They are commonly known as map lichens because of the prothallus forming border-like bands between colonies in some species, like the common map lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum).
Species
GENUS
- KingdomFungi
- PhylumAscomycota
- ClassLecanoromycetes
- OrderRhizocarpales
- FamilyRhizocarpaceae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 2,631
- With media
- 1,104
- Family
- Rhizocarpaceae
- Collections
- OSC, US, VT, MEL, UTEP, UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL
- Recorded in
- United States, Netherlands, Indonesia, Austria, Canada, France
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy and phylogeny
- Common traits
- Ascus and ascospores
- Species
- Gallery
- References
Rhizocarpon is a genus of crustose, saxicolous (or sometimes lichenicolous), lichens in the family Rhizocarpaceae. The genus is common in arctic-alpine environments, but also occurs throughout temperate, subtropical, and even tropical regions. They are commonly known as map lichens because of the prothallus forming border-like bands between colonies in some species, like the common map lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum).
==Taxonomy and phylogeny== Together with three small genera (Catolechia, Poeltinula and Epilichen), Rhizocarpon constitutes the family Rhizocarpaceae. Historically, ca 389 names have been used. However, many species concepts are ill-defined, many names have been synonymized and new species are regularly being described, so true number of species is not entirely clear as of now, but is estimated to be around 200.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rhizocarpon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.