ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > ACAROSPORALES > Acaroporaceae

Common name:              -

Synonyms:                     Sarcogyne pruinosa

Habitat:                          Urban (for this entry)             

Substrata:                      Calcareous rock and stone

Growth form:                 Saxicolous

Thallus:                   Crustose

Apothecia:                     Lecideine

BLS identity rating: Graded 2/5 (visual identification relatively easy with care, but see note)

Thallus very thin, dull white to pale grey and scurfy, although frequently immersed and inconspicuous; apothecia sessile or slightly sunken in pits, up to 1.5mm dia., discs brownish-red to blackish when dry, dark brown-red when moist, generally densely blue-grey pruinose; exciple black, often more densely pruinose than the disc, then fading, finally becoming excluded.

Morphs with red-brown, densely pruinose apothecia embedded in pits, occurring primarily on hard limestone, are treated as a separate species Sarcogyne pruinosa by some authors, and would require microscopic examination to determine.

Sarcogyne regularis is a relatively common and widespread species, especially in lowland regions, where it can be found on calcareous rocks and stone, chalk pebbles, asbestos-cement, mortar and old walls.