TYPE. UNITED STATES. Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Hingham. On cedars in swamps. 1848, E. Tuckerman s.n. (FH-Tuck.)
Life form. Lichenized fungus
Description.Thallus crustose, areolate; areoles irregular, flat to convex, often aggregated and appearing continuous. Surface dull, brown to greenish-brown, epruinose; prothallus often as dark margin. Vegetative diasprores absent. Photobiont chlorococcoid alga; medulla white. Ascomata lecideine apothecia, sessile, 0.2-0.7 mm diam.; disk black, flat to convex, epruinose; margin black, often becoming excluded. Exciple hyaline transitioning to a narrow greenish brown zone near the outer edge, epihymenium blue-green to brownish; hymenium hyaline, not inspersed; hypothecium purple-brown. Asci 8-spored; ascospores hyaline, 4-8-celled, 20-40 x 2-3 μm. Conidiomata not reported.
Chemistry. Spot tests negative; unidentified substance detected by TLC.
Substrate and habitat. Corticolous on conifer bark in swamps and humid forests.
Distribution. Eastern North America; in North Carolina found in the Blue Ridge and Coastal Plain ecoregions; expected throughout.
Literature
Lendemer, J.C. & N. Noell. (2018) Delmarva Lichens: An illustrated manual. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Society28: 1-386.
Tuckerman, E. (1862) Observations on North American and other lichens. 2. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences5: 383-422 (original description as Lecidea chlorosticta).