Anzia colpodes (aka “Black-Foam Lichen”)

Location Summary

Substrate: On hardwoods.

Habitat: In deciduous forests.

Identification Characteristics

Description: Thallus foliose, forming rosettes of greenish gray, dichotomously branching, convex lobes, 1-2 mm wide, without soredia or isidia, lobes developing small, round lobules.

Apothecia: common, up to 5 mm in diameter, very concave.

Pycnidia: Usually buried in the tips of the lobes, seen as black dots.

Lookalikes: Anzia colpodes at first glance looks like a Hypogymnia, especially H. krogiae, but the lobes (apart from the hypothallus) are actually thin & solid.  The two other North American species of Anzia are very rare.  Anzia americana, a southern Appalachian species, is sorediate; A. ornata, on the southern coastal plain, is marginally isidiate.

Bibliography: Lichens of North America, by Brodo, Sharnoff, & Sharnoff

Database Entry:  Distance Everheart 12-26-13