''Lepraria'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of leprose

crustose Crustose is a habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the substrates at all points. ''Crustose'' is found on rocks and ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes on the type species of the genus L. incana, James C. Lendemer , Mycologia 103(6): 1216-1229

/ref> Members of the genus are List of lichen common names and their genera, commonly called dust lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Dust Lichen (Lepraria), Encyclopedia of Life
/ref>USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Name Search
/ref> The main vegetative body (

thallus Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...

) is made of patches of soredia (little balls of algae wrapped in fungus). There are no known mechanisms for sexual reproduction, yet members of the genus continue to

speciate Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...

. Some species can form marginal lobes and appear

squamulose A squamulose lichen is a lichen that is composed of small, often overlapping "scales" called squamules. If they are raised from the substrate and appear leafy, the lichen may appear to be a foliose lichen, but the underside does not have a "skin ...

. Because of the morphological simplicity of the thallus and the absence of sexual structures, the composition of lichen products (i.e., secondary metabolites made by lichens) are important characters to distinguish between similar species in ''Lepraria''.

Taxonomy

''Lepraria'' was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

in 1803 by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius.

Jack Laundon Jack Rodney Laundon (28 July 1934 – 31 December 2016) was a British lichenologist and became President of the British Lichen Society. Education and personal life Jack Rodney Laundon was born 28 July 1934 in Kettering, Northamptonshire. He was ...

assigned ''

Lepraria incana ''Lepraria incana'' is a species of dust lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. First described scientifically by Johann Jacob Dillenius in 1741, and then formally by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, it is the type species of the genus ''Lepraria''. T ...

'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus in 1992. It is in the family Stereocaulaceae.

Species

*''

Lepraria achariana ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with note ...

'' – South America *''

Lepraria alba ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with note ...

'' *''

Lepraria albicans ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with note ...

'' *'' Lepraria alpina'' *'' Lepraria alternata'' – Australia *''

Lepraria arbuscula ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *'' Lepraria atlantica'' *''

Lepraria atrotomentosa ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *'' Lepraria aurescens'' – Thailand *'' Lepraria barbatica'' *'' Lepraria bergensis'' *'' Lepraria borealis'' *'' Lepraria brasiliensis'' *'' Lepraria brodoi'' – North America *'' Lepraria cacuminum'' *'' Lepraria caesiella'' *'' Lepraria caesioalba'' *'' Lepraria celata'' *'' Lepraria chileana'' – Chile *'' Lepraria congesta'' *'' Lepraria crassissima'' *'' Lepraria cryophila'' *'' Lepraria cryptovouauxii'' *''

Lepraria cupressicola ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *'' Lepraria dibenzofuranica'' – Australia *'' Lepraria diffusa'' *'' Lepraria disjuncta'' *'' Lepraria ecorticata'' *'' Lepraria elobata'' *'' Lepraria friabilis'' *'' Lepraria gelida'' *'' Lepraria glaucosorediata'' *'' Lepraria goughensis'' *'' Lepraria gracilescens'' *'' Lepraria granulata'' – Eastern and Central Europe *'' Lepraria granulosa'' *'' Lepraria harrisiana'' *'' Lepraria hodkinsoniana'' *'' Lepraria humida'' *'' Lepraria impossibilis'' *''

'' *'' Lepraria indica'' – India *'' Lepraria isidiata'' *'' Lepraria jackii'' *'' Lepraria juanfernandezii'' *'' Lepraria lanata'' *'' Lepraria larrainiana'' – Chile *'' Lepraria lecanorica'' *'' Lepraria lendemeri'' *'' Lepraria leuckertiana'' *''

Lepraria lobata ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' – Australia *''

Lepraria lobificans ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with note ...

'' *''

Lepraria maderensis ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *''

Lepraria malouina ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' –

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

*'' Lepraria membranacea'' *'' Lepraria methylbarbatica'' *''

Lepraria multiacida ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *'' Lepraria neojackii'' *'' Lepraria neozelandica'' – New Zealand *'' Lepraria nigrocincta'' *'' Lepraria nivalis'' *'' Lepraria normandinoides'' *'' Lepraria nothofagi'' *'' Lepraria nylanderiana'' *'' Lepraria ohmiensis'' *'' Lepraria oxybapha'' *'' Lepraria pacifica'' *'' Lepraria pallida'' *'' Lepraria pseudoarbuscula'' *'' Lepraria pulchra'' *'' Lepraria rigidula'' *''

Lepraria salazinica ''Lepraria salazinica'' is a species of rock-dwelling, leprose lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It is found in the eastern United States. Taxonomy The lichen was described as a new species in 2007 by lichenologist Tor Tønsberg. The type ...

'' *'' Lepraria santosii'' *'' Lepraria sekikaica'' *'' Lepraria sipmaniana'' *'' Lepraria squamatica'' *'' Lepraria stephaniana'' *'' Lepraria subalbicans'' *''

Lepraria sulphurella ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *'' Lepraria svalbardensis'' *'' Lepraria sylvicola'' *'' Lepraria tenella'' *'' Lepraria toilenae'' *'' Lepraria torii'' *'' Lepraria umbricola'' *'' Lepraria ulrikii'' – Australasia *'' Lepraria vouauxii'' *''

Lepraria xanthonica ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, with notes ...

'' *'' Lepraria xerophila'' *'' Lepraria zeorinica''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6527811 Lichen genera Lecanorales genera Taxa named by Erik Acharius Taxa described in 1803