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Rhizocarpon infernulum (Nyl.) Lynge
Smooth Map
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: High-elevation rocky hardwood forests
Pale to brownish thallus thin, continuous, smooth, apothecia black with black rims; MICROSCOPY: spores colorless (becoming light brown in age), 2-celled, ellipsoid, 8/ascus; CHEMISTRY: no substances; FIELD ID not possible; requires dissection
Most other Rhizocarpon species have areolate thalli & brown spores; R. hochstetteri is similar, but contains stictic acid; thalli of these 2 species are thin, making spot tests unreliable, & they may best be sorted with thin-layer chromatography (TLC); many of our specimens could belong to either
None
High-elevation rocky hardwood forests, on sheltered silicious rock
Saxicolous crustose lichenized fungus, photobiont a unicellular green alga
None
Southern Blue Ridge
Unknown
Rare? Testing more Ga. specimens with TLC may show this species to be at least uncommon
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
July 5, 2022