Texas Wart Lichen

The lichen has a yellowish thallus (body) with poriform apothecia (fruiting bodies) and warted verrucae (wart-like projections). It features small ostioles (pore-like openings) that have yellow papillae at their tips. The asci (spore-containing cells) each contain eight smooth-walled ascospores. The species produces several secondary metabolites including: stictic acid and thiophaninic acid (major substances); constictic acid, 2-chloro-6-O-methylnorlichexanthone, and 4-chloro-6-O-methylnorlichexanthone (minor substances). Pertusaria texana can be confused with P. xanthodes, which shares similar chemical compounds but differs in having:

hyaline (clear) ostioles rather than yellow ones two-spored rather than eight-spored asci rough-walled rather than smooth-walled ascospores Another rare lookalike from Florida, P. epixanthoa, has depressed rather than raised ostioles, and variolaric rather than stictic acid.

Pertusaria texana is a corticolous (bark-dwelling) species that grows on various trees including Acacia, Jatropha, and Quercus (oak). It occurs at elevations between 100–1,200 m (330–3,940 ft). The species has been documented in Mexico and the southwestern United States.