Cinder Lichen vs Warty Sunken Disk Lichen

Aspicilia cinerea compared with Aspicilia verrucigera

Key Differences

• Cinder Lichen is Least Concern while Warty Sunken Disk Lichen is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cinder Lichen	Warty Sunken Disk Lichen
Kingdom same	Fungi (เห็ดรา)	Fungi (เห็ดรา)
Phylum same	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class same	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)
Order same	Pertusariales (Pertusariales)	Pertusariales (Pertusariales)
Family same	Megasporaceae	Megasporaceae
Genus same	Aspicilia	Aspicilia
Species	Aspicilia cinerea	Aspicilia verrucigera

Evolutionary Relationship

Cinder Lichen and Warty Sunken Disk Lichen share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Aspicilia.

Conservation Status

Cinder Lichen

LC — Least Concern

Warty Sunken Disk Lichen

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cinder Lichen	Warty Sunken Disk Lichen
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cinder Lichen

Habitat

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

Range

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

Warty Sunken Disk Lichen

Habitat

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

Range

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

Cinder Lichen

Cinder lichen (Aspicilia cinerea) is a crustose lichen in the family Megasporaceae, found widely across the Northern Hemisphere in boreal, montane, and arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. It grows as a flat, gray to ash-gray crust on exposed siliceous rock surfaces—particularly granite, gneiss, and other hard acidic rocks—in open, high-light environments such as moorland boulders, mountain crags, stream-side rocks, and coastal outcrops. The cinder lichen's granular to warty thallus and its pale gray color, reminiscent of volcanic ash or cinder, give the species its common name. Aspicilia cinerea is classified as Least Concern, with widespread and abundant populations in suitable rocky habitats. Like many saxicolous lichens, it is extremely slow-growing and may live for centuries on stable rock surfaces. The species forms part of diverse epilithic lichen communities that colonize bare rock and contribute to biological weathering and soil formation. It is resistant to desiccation and temperature extremes, making it well adapted to exposed subalpine and arctic environments. Cinder lichen has been used as a model organism in studies of lichen growth rates and rock weathering. The genus Aspicilia is one of the largest in lichenized fungi, and molecular work has substantially revised its circumscription.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States