Mapledust lichen

Family: Asconycota

Order: Lecanoraceae

Genus: Lecanora

Species: L. thysanophora

Identifying Characteristics:

- Crustose pale green to yellowish-green surface with a white to bluish webby margin

- Lichens have a structure called the "thallus" which is the vegetive body composed of both the photobiant (the photosynthetic partner in a lichen; either algae or cyanobacteria) and mycobiont (the fungal partner in a lichen). The Mapledust lichen's thallus is: pale green to yellowish green with a white webby margin.

- Apothecia (a disk or cup-shaped structure that produces spores for the mycobiont): Rarely seen

Special Adaptations:

- Grows on Sugar maples, but also on beech, oak, and basswood

- Mapledust lichen tend to grow on young maple trees with smooth bark. As the maple bark ages it begins to ooze alkaline, nitrogenous compounds, which alter the lichen community resulting in a more diverse community.