Lobothallia alphoplaca & Lobothallia melanaspis #

Taxon #

Lobothallia alphoplaca & Lobothallia melanaspis

Organization #

Lobed Crustose Lichens

Identification #

These two species are members of the Megasporaceae and have lecanorine apothecia which may lead to misidentifications as a species of Lecanora in which it has been previously placed. Both species can be whitish, grayish, or greenish depending on sun exposure and hydration. Lobothalia species are rather appressed and with lobes which appear somewhat inflated. Saxicolous members of Parmeliaceae and Physciaceae may appear similar but are not so tightly appressed to their rock substrates.

Chemical Tests:

L. alphoplaca #

Thallus: C-, KC-, cortex: K- or K+ red, Pd- or Pd+ orange (CLH)

L. melanaspis #

Cortex and medulla: K-, C-, KC-, Pd-, UV- (ITALIC)

Substrate #

Siliceous rocks (CLH)

Nimis P.L., 2025. ITALIC - The Information System on Italian Lichens. Version 8.0. University of Trieste, Dept. of Biology, (https://dryades.units.it/italic), accessed on 2025, 04, 20. for all. All data are released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.