Alpine Rock-Cress vs Common Button Lichen

Arabis alpina compared with Buellia erubescens

Key Differences

Alpine Rock-Cress is Least Concern while Common Button Lichen is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Alpine Rock-Cress	Common Button Lichen
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)
Order	Brassicales (Brassicales)	Caliciales (Caliciales)
Family	Brassicaceae	Caliciaceae
Genus	Arabis	Buellia
Species	Arabis alpina	Buellia erubescens

Conservation Status

Alpine Rock-Cress

LC — Least Concern

Common Button Lichen

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Alpine Rock-Cress	Common Button Lichen
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Alpine Rock-Cress

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (10 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and South America (Argentina).

Common Button Lichen

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Taiwan, and United States.

Alpine Rock-Cress

The Alpine Rock-Cress (Arabis alpina) is a species in the genus Arabis. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions. Widely distributed across Europe (10 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and South America (Argentina).

Common Button Lichen

<em>Buellia erubescens</em>, commonly known as the common button lichen, is a lichen species with documented occurrences across Asia, Europe, and North America, including countries such as Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States. It typically colonizes diverse terrestrial surfaces, often found on bark, rock, or other substrates in temperate and boreal environments. Common button lichen belongs to the genus <em>Buellia</em> within the family Caliciaceae. As a crustose lichen, it typically forms tightly adhered, crust-like thalli on the surfaces it colonizes, making it characteristic of stable, undisturbed substrates. Biological traits such as average lifespan, thallus size, and biomass of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature. The species has not yet been formally evaluated by the IUCN, and its global conservation status therefore remains undetermined. Its occurrence across multiple continents suggests a wide ecological tolerance, though detailed population data and trend assessments are currently lacking for this taxon.