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Megalospora porphyritis (Tuck.) R.C. Harris
Blue-green Volcanito
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: GNR
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: None
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 0
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Mesic hardwood forests and swamps
Pale bluish-green thallus with disintegrating pustules covering all but edges, which are poorly defined; typically sterile in Ga. (apothecia seen on NC specimens); CHEMISTRY: thallus PD+ orange (pannarin); FIELD ID: thallus color & fading edges make this species distinguishable even at a distance; a close look at the pustules also helps, but chemical test recommended to confirm
Other greenish sterile crusts
None
Mesic hardwood forests & swamps; substrates: 55% Quercus bark, 8% Acer, 8% Nyssa, 5% Liquidambar, with the rest on other hardwoods, excepting 1 record on silicious rock
Corticolous crustose lichenized fungus, photobiont a green alga
None
Statewide
Unknown
Common, locally abundant
None
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. Preliminary keys to the typically sterile crustose lichens in North America. Prepared for the Sterile Crustose Lichen Course—Eagle Hill, Maine. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, N.Y.
Tripp, E. A. & J. C. Lendemer. 2020. Field guide to the lichens of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.
Malcolm Hodges
5 May 2022