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Federal Protection: No US federal protection

State Protection: No Georgia state protection

Global Rank: G3G5

State Rank: SNR

Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: No

SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No

SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No

2025 SGCN Priority Tier:

Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 0

Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Mesic hardwood forests; swamp forests

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Description

Pale thallus with lirelliform apothecia, lirellae large with crumbling white margins; MICROSCOPY: few paraphyses with apical ornamentation, typically sterile and lacking ascospores; CHEMISTRY: thallus & lirellae often K+ yellowish (constictic acid) or K+ yellow turning dark red to black-red (salazinic acid); FIELD ID not possible; dissection & chemical tests required

Similar Species

Other Acanthothecis species have different combinations of spores & chemistry; identification requires chemistry & dissection of apothecia to examine spores & paraphyses; possibly also requires thin-layer chromatography to detect trace amounts of secondary metabolites

Related Rare Species

None

Habitat

Mesic hardwood forests, swamp forests; on hardwood bark

Life History

Corticolous lichenized fungus, photobiont an alga in genus Trentepohlia

Survey Recommendations

None

Range

Coastal Plain

Threats

Harvesting old-growth hardwood forests & swamps

Georgia Conservation Status

Rare

Conservation Management Recommendations

Conserve Coastal Plain hardwood bluff forests & swamps

References

Brodo, I. M. 2001. Lichens of North America. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.

Brodo, I. M. 2016. Keys to lichens of North America: revised and expanded. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.

Esslinger, T. L. 2021. A cumulative checklist for the lichen-forming, lichenicolous and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. Version 24. Opuscula Philolichenum 20: 100-394.

Lendemer, J. C. 2010. Revised keys to the Graphidaceae in southeastern North America. Created for the 2010 Tuckerman Workshop, Augusta, Georgia. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, N.Y.

Lendemer, J. C. & R. C. Harris. 2014. Seven new species of Graphidaceae (Lichenized Ascomycetes) from the Coastal Plain of southeastern North America. Phytotaxa 189: 153-175.

Authors of Account

Sean Beeching & Malcolm Hodges

Date Compiled or Updated

27 February 2022