Global occurrence: Eurasia – Europe | Americas – North America (incl Mexico) | Arctic.  Substrate: soil, clay, humus, turf, detritus, dead leaves.  Life habit: lichenized (mutualistic with algal photobionts).  Thallus: crustose (crustaceous) – episubstratal – unspecified; [th] upper surface: white(ish); [th marginal and upper surface] specific structures: absent.  Ascomata: absent | present; ascoma: apothecial, apothecioid – hymenial; ascoma [mm]: (min) 1.5.  Asci: lecanoralean; [asc] tholus: thickened; [asc] tholus amyloidity (iodine reaction): present; [asc] tholus amyloidity pattern: entirely amyloid (= Catillaria-, Teloschistes-types etc).  Ascospores: (median) 8.0; [asp] length [µm]: (low) 10.5 (high) 13.0; [asp] width [µm]: (low) 3.5 (high) 8.0; [asp] septa: absent | present – spore lumen bilocular, polarilocular, plurilocular; transversely septate; [asp] transversal septa: (median) 1.0; [asp] pigmentation: hyaline, colourless; [asp] perispore, epispore: not apparent.  Secondary metabolites: present, unknown/unidentified anthraquinone(s).  Primary photobiont: present, chlorophytaceous – trebouxiaceous, chlorococcoid.  Secondary photobionts (eg in cephalodia): absent.

Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2007. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 3.

Caloplaca schoeferi: Poelt, Fedde Repert. 58: 176 (1955). Life habit: lichenized Thallus: little or none, crustose, continuous, without elongated lobes; prothallus: absent surface: gray, smooth, without asexual propagules Apothecia: adnate, 0.3-0.7 mm in diam, lecanorine disc: orange, flat, epruinose margin: persistent, slightly raised; thalline margin absent; proper margin visible, little lighter than disc parathecium: cellular (paraplectenchymatous); exciple below hypothecium amorphous epihymenium: golden, K+ red, C- hymenium: hyaline, 70-80 µm tall paraphyses: 1-2 tip cells slightly swollen, frequently branched; subhymenium hyaline asci: cylindrical, 8-spored ascospores: hyaline, 2 locules, ellipsoid, 10-14 x 6-8.5 µm, isthmus 3.5-5 µm Pycnidia: not observed Spot tests: apothecial margin K+ red, C-; thallus K-, C- Secondary metabolites: unidentified anthraquinones. Substrate and ecology: on bryophytes or detritus World distribution: Europe and North America Sonoran distribution: Arizona. Notes: Caloplaca schoeferi is a muscicolous species known from a single packet in this region that was tentatively identified by Søchting. It has little thallus and yellow orange to orange apothecia with a fairly thick raised proper margin that is C-. Caloplaca tiroliensis is similar but has thin, flush margin and darkened discs.