vs Common Button Lichen

Buellia aethalea compared with Buellia erubescens

Key Differences

• is Least Concern while Common Button Lichen is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Common Button Lichen
Kingdom same	Fungi (Fungi)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum same	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class same	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)
Order same	Caliciales (Caliciales)	Caliciales (Caliciales)
Family same	Caliciaceae	Caliciaceae
Genus same	Buellia	Buellia
Species	Buellia aethalea	Buellia erubescens

Evolutionary Relationship

and Common Button Lichen share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Buellia.

Conservation Status

LC — Least Concern

Common Button Lichen

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

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.

Buellia aethalea is a crustose lichen in the family Caliciaceae, assessed as Least Concern (LC). It grows on siliceous rock surfaces in exposed habitats and produces a grey to dark thallus with lecidine apothecia. It is widely distributed across temperate and boreal regions on suitable rock substrates.

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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden