Specimen image via iDigBio
Epilichen
Sign in to saveEpilichen is a small genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Rhizocarpaceae. These parasitic lichens live on other lichens, beginning as thin, crust-like patches that may break into small islands or scales, and in some cases produce no visible body at all except for their reproductive structures. They reproduce through black, disc-shaped fruiting bodies that contain distinctive brown spores with a "doughnut ring" appearance, and can eventually take over the space occupied by their host lichen once it dies.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomFungi
- PhylumAscomycota
- ClassLecanoromycetes
- OrderRhizocarpales
- FamilyRhizocarpaceae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 6
- With media
- 4
- Family
- Rhizocarpaceae
- Collections
- COLO, US, TRH, UPS
- Recorded in
- United States, Norway, Sweden
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Rhizocarpaceae
Show 4 more facts
- taxon name
- Epilichen
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxonomic type
- Epilichen scabrosus
- taxon common name
- epilichen lichen
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Species
- References
Epilichen is a small genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Rhizocarpaceae. These parasitic lichens live on other lichens, beginning as thin, crust-like patches that may break into small islands or scales, and in some cases produce no visible body at all except for their reproductive structures. They reproduce through black, disc-shaped fruiting bodies that contain distinctive brown spores with a "doughnut ring" appearance, and can eventually take over the space occupied by their host lichen once it dies.
==Taxonomy==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Epilichen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.