The Species

Alberta is home to over 1,000 species of lichens, and an additional 35 species of calicioid fungi that lichenologists traditionally study.  This book provides descriptions and images for some of the most common species, focusing on macrolichens and calicioids.  Species are arranged alphabetically by genus and species. Each species description includes nomenclature, field characteristics, ecology, comparisons to similar species, chemistry, and links to external resources.  In addition, a gallery of photographs illustrating key features is provided for each, with am emphasis on observations from Alberta.

Before you start navigating genus and species level keys, however, you may need to:

• determine whether your sample of interest is in fact a lichen
• navigate an initial key to the genera

In this section we provide that guidance.