''Pleopsidium chlorophanum'' (gold cobblestone lichen)
[The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada, John Muir Laws , 2007] is a distinctively colored, bright lemon-yellow to chartreuse
[Crustose Rock Lichens, Wayne P. Armstrong, Wayne's World online textbook of natural history]
/ref> 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.[arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...]
or alpine sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
cliffs and boulders. It is a rare alpine lichen in Europe. It is in the ''Pleopsidium
''Pleopsidium'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Acarosporaceae. The widespread genus, which contains four species, was circumscribed by lichenologist Gustav Wilhelm Körber
Gustav Wilhelm Körber (10 January 1817, Hirschberg – ...
'' 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 the 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 ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
.
This lichen is one of the few species able to survive at high altitudes in Antarctica, at altitudes of up to . It is able to cope with high UV, low temperatures and dryness. In its Antarctic habitat, it can be found on the surface, but it is mainly found in cracks, where just a small amount of scattered light reaches it. This is probably an adaptive behaviour to protect it from UV light and desiccation. It remains metabolically active in temperatures down to -20 C, and can absorb small amounts of liquid water in an environment with ice and snow.
It is of especial interest for astrobiology since this is one of the most Mars like environments on the Earth. In a 34-day experiment when placed in a Mars simulation chamber, it continued to photosynthesize, and it adapted to Mars conditions and even adapted physiologically by increasing its photosynthetic activity, and producing new growth.Acarospora schleicheri
''Acarospora schleicheri'', the soil paint lichen, is a bleached to bright yellow areolate to squamulose lichen that commonly grows to on soil (terricolous) in arid habitats of southern California and Baja California, also in Europe and Africa. ...
'', which grows on soil (terricolous lichen A terricolous lichen is a lichen that grows on the soil as a substrate. An example is some members of the genus ''Peltigera
''Peltigera'' is a genus of approximately 100 species of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. Commonly known as ...
) and rarely on rock, and to '' Pleopsidium flavum''.[ that grows in high elevations ( montane to ]alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
) on vertical or overhanging hard felsic
In geology, felsic is a modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted with mafic rocks, whi ...
rock (e.g. 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 western North America.[Mosses Lichens & Ferns of Northwest North America, Dale H. Vitt, Janet E. marsh, Robin B. Bovey, Lone Pine Publishing Company, ]
Its 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 ...
grows in a circular, outwardly radiating pattern ( placodioid), with 1mm wide lobed edges.[ It differs from Pleopsidium flavum in having a smooth, smaller squamulose thallus and larger apothecia (spore producing structures)][
]
References
Acarosporales
{{Lecanoromycetes-stub