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iNat·117932GenusFungi24,853 field observations
  1. Fungi Including Lichens
  2. ›Ascomycete Fungi
  3. ›Sac Fungi and Lichens
  4. ›Common Lichens
  5. ›cobblestone lichens, eiglera lichens, and allies
  6. ›cobblestone lichens, eiglera lichens, and allies
  7. ›cobblestone lichen family
cobblestone lichens
Plate 1 of 6. (c) José María Escolano, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA) · via iNaturalist

cobblestone lichens

Acarospora

Acarospora is a genus of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the family Acarosporaceae. Most species in the genus are crustose lichens that grow on rocks in open and arid places all over the world. They may look like a cobblestone road or cracked up old paint, and are commonly called cobblestone lichens or cracked lichens. They usually grow on rock (are "saxicolous"), but some grow on soil (terricolous) or on other lichens. Some species in the genus are fungi that live as parasites on other lichens (lichenicolous fungi). Acarospora is a widely distributed genus, with about 128 species according to a 2008 estimate.

Species in Acarospora may be shiny as if covered with a glossy varnish, or dull and powdery looking. They have a diverse range of colors, from the brilliant yellow bright cobblestone lichen, to the dark reddish-brown mountain cobblestone lichen, or they can appear tan, gray, or white, from a dusty-looking coating (pruina). They may grow in crustose forms like a warty surface (verrucose), like cracking-up old crust of paint (rimose), like a bunch of "islands" in a dry lake bed (areolate), like the flakes of cracking up paint are peeling up at the edges (sub-squamulous), or like the flakes are growing over others like scales (squamulous).

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60 branches of this genus, most-observed first

Yellow Cobblestone Lichen

speciesAcarospora socialis

brown cobblestone lichen

speciesAcarospora fuscata

hoary cobblestone lichen

speciesAcarospora strigata

Soil Paint Lichen

speciesAcarospora schleicheri

Acarospora cervina

speciesAcarospora cervina

Sinoper Lichen

speciesAcarospora sinopica

Common Coal Dust Lichen

speciesAcarospora privigna

Rimmed Cobblestone Lichen

speciesAcarospora glaucocarpa

Corn Pops

speciesAcarospora stapfiana

Acarospora moenium

speciesAcarospora moenium

Acarospora thamnina

speciesAcarospora thamnina

Acarospora citrina

speciesAcarospora citrina

dusty cobblestone lichen

speciesAcarospora americana

Acarospora rosulata

speciesAcarospora rosulata

Acarospora robiniae

speciesAcarospora robiniae

golden cobblestone lichen

speciesAcarospora contigua

Acarospora hilaris

speciesAcarospora hilaris

Acarospora macrospora

speciesAcarospora macrospora

Acarospora thelococcoides

speciesAcarospora thelococcoides

Acarospora chrysops

speciesAcarospora chrysops

Piedmont Cobblestone

speciesAcarospora piedmontensis

Acarospora nodulosa

speciesAcarospora nodulosa

Acarospora badiofusca

speciesAcarospora badiofusca

Acarospora veronensis

speciesAcarospora veronensis

Acarospora bullata

speciesAcarospora bullata

mountain cobblestone lichen

speciesAcarospora elevata

Acorn Cups

speciesAcarospora obpallens

Acarospora placodiiformis

speciesAcarospora placodiiformis

Acarospora heufleriana

speciesAcarospora heufleriana

Acarospora clauzadeana

speciesAcarospora clauzadeana

Acarospora obnubila

speciesAcarospora obnubila

Acarospora bohlinii

speciesAcarospora bohlinii

Gypsum Lichen

speciesAcarospora gypsi-deserti

Acarospora nitrophila

speciesAcarospora nitrophila

Acarospora epilutescens

speciesAcarospora epilutescens

Acarospora calcarea

speciesAcarospora calcarea

Acarospora sulphurata

speciesAcarospora sulphurata

Acarospora canadensis

speciesAcarospora canadensis

Acarospora umbilicata

speciesAcarospora umbilicata

Acarospora oligospora

speciesAcarospora oligospora

Acarospora laqueata

speciesAcarospora laqueata

Acarospora insolata

speciesAcarospora insolata

Bagel Cobblestone

speciesAcarospora janae

molybdenum cracked lichen

speciesAcarospora molybdina

Acarospora squamulosa

speciesAcarospora squamulosa

Acarospora similis

speciesAcarospora similis

Acarospora versicolor

speciesAcarospora versicolor

Acarospora organensis

speciesAcarospora organensis

Acarospora nicolai

speciesAcarospora nicolai

Acarospora congregata

speciesAcarospora congregata

Acarospora complanata

speciesAcarospora complanata

Acarospora picea

speciesAcarospora picea

Acarospora novomexicana

speciesAcarospora novomexicana

Acarospora macrocyclos

speciesAcarospora macrocyclos

Acarospora epithallina

speciesAcarospora epithallina

Acarospora depressa

speciesAcarospora depressa

Acarospora affinis

speciesAcarospora affinis

Acarospora irregularis

speciesAcarospora irregularis

Acarospora xanthophana

speciesAcarospora xanthophana

Acarospora scotica

speciesAcarospora scotica

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Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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Every page naming Acarospora in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 117932.