Lecideaceae

The Lecideaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecideales. It contains about 30 genera and roughly 250 species. A major distinguishing characteristic of the family is the lecideine form of the fruiting bodies: typically circular, dark, and without a thalline margin. Most species in the family are lichenised with green algae, although a few species, scattered amongst several genera, are lichenicolous—they live on other lichens. Lecideaceae lichens tend to grow on rocks, wood, and soil. Several Lecideaceae species accelerate the weathering of rock surfaces, a process known as pedogenesis, by extending their hyphae into cracks and expelling rock flakes. This contributes to significantly faster weathering rates in certain environments, impacts various materials from natural rocks to man-made Sekishu roof tiles, and involves key biomolecules identified for survival and biodeterioration, including compounds to withstand intense ultraviolet radiation.

The largest genus in the family, Lecidea, was once a loosely circumscribed wastebasket taxon containing hundreds of morphologically similar species with generally crustose thalli, photobiont-free apothecial margins and translucent, single-celled ascospores. The overall taxonomy and classification within the family has been made more accurate with recent molecular phylogenetics studies. Two Lecideaceae species have been assessed for the global IUCN Red List.