''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 Soredia are common reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria or gr ...

(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 "ski ...

. Because of the morphological simplicity of the thallus and the absence of sexual structures, the composition of

lichen product Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deriva ...

s (i.e.,

secondary metabolite Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the norm ...

s made by lichens) are important

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

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 Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology." Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus. Life Acharius was born in ...

. Jack Laundon assigned '' Lepraria incana'' 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 The Stereocaulaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecanorales. It contains five genera. Species of this family are widely distributed in temperate boreal and austral regions. Genera *'' Hertelidea'' – 6 spp. *''Lepraria'' ...

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'' 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 alternata'' – Australia *'' Lepraria arbuscula'' *'' Lepraria atlantica'' *'' Lepraria atrotomentosa'' *'' 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 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 incana'' *'' Lepraria indica'' – India *'' Lepraria isidiata'' *'' Lepraria jackii'' *'' Lepraria juanfernandezii'' *'' Lepraria lanata'' *'' Lepraria larrainiana'' – Chile *'' Lepraria lecanorica'' *'' Lepraria lendemeri'' *'' Lepraria leuckertiana'' *'' Lepraria lobata'' – 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 malouina'' –

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 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 santosii'' *'' Lepraria sekikaica'' *'' Lepraria sipmaniana'' *'' Lepraria squamatica'' *'' Lepraria stephaniana'' *'' Lepraria subalbicans'' *'' Lepraria sulphurella'' *'' Lepraria svalbardensis'' *'' Lepraria sylvicola'' *'' Lepraria tenella'' *'' Lepraria toilenae'' *'' Lepraria torii'' *'' Lepraria umbricola'' *'' Lepraria ulrikii'' – Australasia *'' Lepraria vouauxii'' *'' Lepraria xanthonica'' *'' Lepraria xerophila'' *'' Lepraria zeorinica''

References

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