Coccocarpia palmicola
While it appears Coccocarpia palmicola is not threatened in Australia (FloraBase), in Canada the species is listed with a Nova Scotia Provincial Status of Yellow indicating it may need extra attention to avoid disappearing from the area(Cameron & Neily, 2008).
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Lichenized, cyanobiont is Scytonema (Swinscow & Krog, 1988).
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The orbicular, foliose thallus of Coccocarpia palmicola is dark blue-gray to brownish-gray, to some extent glossy and with concentric ridges. It measures 2-6 cm wide and grows loosely or closely attached to the substrate. The lobes are somewhat overlapped, each measuring 2-6 mm across with apices rounded and margins bent downward. Pycnidia are common across the thallus surface. Isidia are sparse to plentiful, colored dark grey or the same color as the thallus, and are cylindrical to globose or nodular, some becoming coralloid. Dense pale tan to blue-black tomentum, occasionally with white or grey tips, is frequently visible at the edges of lobes. Apothecia are uncommon, but are brownish flesh-colored to black and variably orbicular when they occur. Ascospores are usually biguttulate, measuring 7-10(15) x 3-4 μm. (Lange et al, 1993; Brodo et al, 2001; Park, 1990; Swinscow, 1988)
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Coccocarpia palmicola occurs widely throughout the tropics and subtropics in Asia and North America, with the exception of Europe(Park, 1990). The species has a Pantropical distribution (Seaward et al, 2002) which also reaches into warm temperate regions (Swinscow & Krog, 1988).
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This lichen is found on tree trunks (Lange et al, 1993) such as Abies balsamea (Cameron & Neily, 2008) and Ficus rubra (Jørgensen, 2000), on dead trees (Seaward et al, 2002), and on mossy rocks in the shade (Brodo et al, 2001). In East Africa it grows with an altitudinal range from approximately sea level to 2000m in sheltered lowland and montane forest (Swinscow & Krog, 1988).
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