Brown Cobblestone Lichen vs Ciliolate Aster

Acarospora fuscata compared with Symphyotrichum ciliolatum

Key Differences

Brown Cobblestone Lichen is Least Concern while Ciliolate Aster is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Cobblestone Lichen	Ciliolate Aster
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Acarosporales (Acarosporales)	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)
Family	Acarosporaceae	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)
Genus	Acarospora	Symphyotrichum
Species	Acarospora fuscata	Symphyotrichum ciliolatum

Conservation Status

Brown Cobblestone Lichen

LC — Least Concern

Ciliolate Aster

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Cobblestone Lichen	Ciliolate Aster
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Cobblestone Lichen

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and United States.

Ciliolate Aster

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Canada, Norway, and United States.

Brown Cobblestone Lichen

The Brown Cobblestone Lichen (Acarospora fuscata) is a species in the genus Acarospora. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Ciliolate Aster

Ciliolate aster (Symphyotrichum ciliolatum) is a perennial wildflower in the family Asteraceae, native to central and northern North America, from the Great Plains east through the Great Lakes region and into the northeastern United States and southern Canada. It grows in open woodland, prairie margins, roadsides, and disturbed ground, preferring well-drained to moderately moist soils with full sun. The plant produces upright stems 40–100 centimeters tall bearing alternate, clasping leaves with slightly fringed (ciliolate) margins, and branched clusters of lavender to blue-violet daisy-like flower heads with yellow disc florets. Blooming occurs in late summer and autumn, providing important nectar for migrating monarch butterflies and native bees. Symphyotrichum ciliolatum is classified as Not Evaluated by the IUCN and is common across its native range. The genus Symphyotrichum was split from the broadly defined Aster following molecular phylogenetic work that demonstrated the non-monophyly of the traditional genus. Ciliolate aster is one of many native North American aster species with a wide distribution, though it is absent from Europe despite some database records listing Norway as its country—an artifact of data entry errors in global species databases. Conservation of native prairie and open woodland habitats benefits this species alongside its many pollinators.