Black Bent vs Common Button Lichen

Agrostis gigantea compared with Buellia erubescens

Key Differences

Black Bent is Least Concern while Common Button Lichen is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Black Bent	Common Button Lichen
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)
Order	Poales (Grasses)	Caliciales (Caliciales)
Family	Poaceae (Grass Family)	Caliciaceae
Genus	Agrostis	Buellia
Species	Agrostis gigantea	Buellia erubescens

Conservation Status

Black Bent

LC — Least Concern

Common Button Lichen

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Black Bent	Common Button Lichen
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black Bent

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Neotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (South Africa), Asia (Japan), Europe (11 countries), North America (4 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (5 countries).

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.

Black Bent

The Black Bent (Agrostis gigantea) is a species in the genus Agrostis. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Neotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

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.