''Acarospora elevata'', the mountain cobblestone lichen, is a shiny dark reddish brown to dark brown

verrucose The following is a glossary of terms used in the description of lichens, composite organisms that arise from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungus species in a mutualistic relationship. Until the end of the 18th cen ...

to aereolate

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

that grows up to wide on

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

in central and southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, and high elevations in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 3., Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001

/ref> It is usually only found above because it is eaten by

red mite ''Dermanyssus gallinae'' (also known as the red mite) is a haematophagous ectoparasite of poultry. It has been implicated as a vector of several major pathogenic diseases. Despite its common names, it has a wide range of hosts including sever ...

s at lower elevations. In the Californias, it is mostly found at high elevations (hence ''"elevata"''), but sometimes in coastal locations where it is less glossy. It grows in full sun, mostly on hard granite, but sometimes other igneous or carbonate rock, from in elevation. It may start by growing on members of the genus ''

Aspicilia ''Aspicilia'' (sunken disk lichen) is a genus of mostly crustose areolate lichens that grow on rock. Most members have black apothecia discs that are slightly immersed in the areolas, hence the common name.Field Guide to California Lichens, Step ...

'', or other such pioneer species on hard rocks. There are typically between zero and four apothecia on each areola or wart, with dark red or black, rough surfaced, flat to concave discs without a dusty looking surface pruina. The

asci ASCI or Asci may refer to: * Advertising Standards Council of India * Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy * Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative * American Society for Clinical Investigation * Argus Sour Crude Index * Association of ...

are thicker at the top than at the base (

clavate This glossary of entomology describes terms used in the formal study of insect species by entomologists. A–C A synthetic chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide, toxic to vertebrates. Though i ...

Lichen spot test A spot test in lichenology is a spot analysis used to help identify lichens. It is performed by placing a drop of a chemical on different parts of the lichen and noting the colour change (or lack thereof) associated with application of the chemical ...

are all negative, and it is UV− under

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

light. It may be identical with type of '' Acarospora nitida''. The lower-elevation forms were originally called '' Thelocarpon albomarginatum'' and '' A. washingtonensis''. ''Acarospora'' is in the family

Acarosporaceae The Acarosporaceae are a family of fungi in the order Acarosporales. Members of this family have a widespread distribution, and are mostly lichenized with green algae. According to a 2021 estimate, the family contains 11 genera and about 260 spe ...

. ''A. elevata'' was first described scientifically by lichenologist

Adolf Hugo Magnusson Adolf Hugo Magnusson (1 March 188514 July 1964) was a Swedish naturalist who specialized in lichenology. He was a school teacher in Gothenburg from 1909 to 1948, but spent his spare time on the study of lichens. He described about 900 new taxa, ...

in 1929.

References

External links

* elevata Lichen species Lichens described in 1929 Fungi of North America Taxa named by Adolf Hugo Magnusson {{Lecanoromycetes-stub