Loading profile. Please wait . . .
Psilolechia lucida (Ach.) Choisy
Sulphur Dust
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: None
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 0
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Vertical rock faces, overhangs beneath cliffs
Pale, lemon-yellow to chartreuse, leprose thallus (dulling in older specimens as above) composed of fine, discrete granules, either in a continuous sheet that can crack, or scattered over rock surface singly or in small groups; fertile thalli with orange apothecia (not seen in Ga.); CHEMISTRY: thallus UV+ orange (rhizocarpic acid); FIELD ID possible with experience, given a careful look to assess granule size & a field UV test
Chrysothrix onokoensis occurs in similar situations & is UV+ orange, but has larger, fuzzy granules loosely aggregated into fluffy mats, usually with a whitish or tan hypothallus beneath the pale-yellow surface
None
Vertical rock faces, overhangs beneath cliffs, on silicious rock
Saxicolous leprose lichenized fungus, photobiont a green alga (Trebouxia or Stichococcus)
None
Southern Blue Ridge, Piedmont
Unknown
Uncommon in good habitat
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.
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
4 August 2022