Lecideaceae

The Lecideaceae are a family of lichens in the order Lecideales (Ascomycota, class Lecanoromycetes). It contains about 30 genera about roughly 250 species. A major distinguishing characteristic of the family is the lecanoroid form of the fruiting bodies: typically circular, dark, and without a thalline margin. Most species in the family are lichenised with green algae, although a few species, scattered amongst several genera, are lichenicolous–they live on other lichens. Lecideaceae lichens tend to grow on rocks, wood, and soil. The largest genus in the family, Lecidea, was once a loosely circumscribed wastebasket taxon containing hundreds of morphologically similar species with generally crustose thalli, photobiont-free apothecial margins and translucent, single-celled ascospores. The overall taxonomy and classification within the family has been made more accurate with recent molecular phylogenetics studies.