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Lecanora subcarnea (Lilj.) Ach.
Family: Lecanoraceae
[Lecanora sordida var. subcarnea (Lilj.) Th. Fr.,  more]
Lecanora subcarnea image
Stephen Sharnoff  
Thallus: crustose, continuous or rimose areolate or verrucose areolate; prothallus: white areoles: flat or verrucose or verruculose, thin or thick, opaquen ecorticate surface: yellowish white to yellowish gray or whitish gray to gray, smooth or farinose, epruinose or slightly pruinose, with an indistinct margin, esorediate Apothecia: sessile, 0.5-1.5 mm in diam., lecanorine disc: pale pink to carneous, convex, heavily pruinose (whitish gray) margin: concolorous with thallus, thin, becoming excluded, prominent, not flexuose, smooth, entire, without a parathecial ring amphithecium: present, with numerous algal cells, with numerous small crystals which dissolve in K, ecorticate parathecium: hyaline, containing crystals soluble in K epihymenium: brown to dark brown, with pigment dissolving in K, with crystals dissolving in K hymenium: hyaline, clear; paraphyses: thickened (up to 3.5 µm wide) apically, not pigmented; subhymenium: hyaline, 15-20 µm thick; hypothecium: hyaline, without oil droplets asci: clavate, 8-spored ascospores: hyaline, simple, broadly ellipsoid, 10-14 x (6-)7.5-9(-10) µm; wall: less than 1 µm thick Pycnidia: not seen Spot tests: K+ yellow, C-, KC-, P- or P+ pale yellow or P+ orange to red Secondary metabolites: atranorin (major), chloroatranorin (minor), conprotocetraric acid (minor or absent), protocetraric acid (major or absent), virensic acid (major or minor). Substrate and ecology: on siliceous rocks at exposed coastal rocks World distribution: restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows in southwestern North America, western to central and southern Europe and adjacent Asia Sonoran distribution: Baja California and southern California. Notes: Lecanora subcarnea is characterized by the heavily pruinose apothecial disc, the absence of an amphithecial cortex and the presence of depsidones of the protocetraric acid chemosyndrome. It may be confused with L. farinacea, which is distinguished by the presence of an amphithecial cortex. Additionally, the species often contains additional depsidones, such as norstictic or salazinic acids.