![Lichen squamulose](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Lichen_squamulose.jpg)
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
Foliose lichen is one of the morphological classes of lichens, which are complex organisms that arise from the symbiotic relationship between fungi and a photosynthetic partner, typically algae. This partnership allows lichen to live in dive ...
, but the underside does not have a "skin" (
cortex
Cortex or cortical may refer to:
Biology
* Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ
** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain''
*** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...
), as foliose lichens do.
Squamulose lichens are composed of flattish units that are usually tightly clustered. They are like an intermediate between
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
foliose lichens.
![Pannaria lurida - Flickr - pellaea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Pannaria_lurida_-_Flickr_-_pellaea.jpg)
Examples of squamulose lichen include ''
Vahliella leucophaea'', ''
Cladonia subcervicornis'' and ''
Lichenomphalia hudsoniana''.
References
Lichenology
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