Gold Cobblestone
Scientific Name:
Pleopsidium chlorophanum
Type:
Lichen
Habitat:
Cliffs and boulders
Range:
Worldwide
Status:
No listed status
This species is
NATIVE
to the Truckee Meadows.
Identification:
Gold cobblestone is known for its bright lemon color. It likes to grow on cliffs and boulders, creating a thin and tight bond. Gold cobblestone, like other lichens, reproduce by breaking off and starting to grow wherever the broken part lands. The spores of this lichen grow out in a circular manner and are 1 millimeter wide.
Fast Facts:
Gold cobblestone is extremely hardy, it is one of the few species able to survive at high altitudes in Antarctica and can cope with high levels of UV light.
Gold cobblestone was placed in a chamber that simulated life on Mars for 34 days, and during that time it continued to photosynthesis and grow!
Gold cobblestone is a crustose lichen, meaning that it forms a crust on the object it is adhering to, and so it cannot be separated without destroying the object it adhered to.
Sources:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Lichens, 2021, https://www.britannica.com/science/lichen
Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria, , 2021, https://lichenportal.org/cnalh/taxa/index.php?taxon=53052&clid=1037
de Vera, Jean-Pierre & Schulze-Makuch, Dirk & Khan, Afshin & Lorek, Andreas & Koncz, Alexander & Möhlmann, D. & Spohn, Tilman. (2013). Adaption of an Antarctic lichen to Martian niche conditions can occur within 34 days. Planetary and Space Science. 98. 10.1016/j.pss.2013.07.014. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258227207_Adaption_of_an_Antarctic_lichen_to_Martian_niche_conditions_can_occur_within_34_days
Image: Jason Hollinger, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold_Cobblestone_Lichen_(1246287349).jpg, license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en, cropped from original.
Contributor(s):
Meghan Anderson (research & content)
Alex Shahbazi (edits & page design)