Lepraria

Lepraria is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains. Members of the genus are commonly called dust lichens. The main vegetative body (thallus) is made of patches of soredia (little balls of algae wrapped in fungus). There are no known mechanisms for sexual reproduction, yet members of the genus continue to speciate. Some species can form marginal lobes and appear squamulose. Because of the morphological simplicity of the thallus and the absence of sexual structures, the composition of lichen products (i.e., secondary metabolites made by lichens) are important characters to distinguish between similar species in Lepraria.

Taxonomy
Lepraria was circumscribed in 1803 by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius. Jack Laundon assigned Lepraria incana as the type species of the genus in 1992. It is in the family Stereocaulaceae.

Species



 * Lepraria achariana Flakus & Kukwa (2007) – South America
 * Lepraria alba (Roth) Ach. (1799)
 * Lepraria albicans (Th.Fr.) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria alpina (B.de Lesd.) Tretiach & Baruffo (2006)
 * Lepraria alternata Elix (2013) – Australia
 * Lepraria arbuscula (Nyl.) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria atlantica Orange (2001)
 * Lepraria atrotomentosa Orange & Wolseley (2001)
 * Lepraria aurescens Orange & Wolseley (2005) – Thailand
 * Lepraria barbatica Lendemer (2010)
 * Lepraria bergensis Tønsberg (2002)
 * Lepraria borealis Loht. & Tønsberg (1994)
 * Lepraria brasiliensis Elix, A.A.Spielm. & Øvstedal (2010)
 * Lepraria brodoi Lendemer & Tønsberg (2014) – North America
 * Lepraria cacuminum (A.Massal.) Kümmerl. & Leuckert (1995)
 * Lepraria caesiella R.C.Harris (2005)
 * Lepraria caesioalba (B.de Lesd.) J.R.Laundon (1992)
 * Lepraria celata Slav.-Bay. (2006)
 * Lepraria chileana Grewe, Barcenas-Peña, R.Diaz & Lumbsch (2021) – Chile
 * Lepraria congesta (Nyl.) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria crassissima (Hue) Lettau (1958)
 * Lepraria cryophila Lendemer (2010)
 * Lepraria cryptovouauxii Kukwa, Flakus & Guzow-Krzemińska (2019)
 * Lepraria cupressicola (Hue) J.R.Laundon (2008)
 * Lepraria dibenzofuranica Elix (2008) – Australia
 * Lepraria diffusa (J.R.Laundon) Kukwa (2002)
 * Lepraria disjuncta Lendemer (2010)
 * Lepraria ecorticata (J.R.Laundon) Kukwa (2006)
 * Lepraria elobata Tønsberg (1992)
 * Lepraria friabilis Lendemer, K.Knudsen & Elix (2008)
 * Lepraria gelida Tønsberg & Zhurb. (2006)
 * Lepraria glaucosorediata Flakus & Kukwa (2009)
 * Lepraria goughensis Elix & Øvstedal (2005)
 * Lepraria gracilescens (Nyl.) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria granulata Slav.-Bay. (2007) – Eastern and Central Europe
 * Lepraria granulosa Slav.-Bay. (2007)
 * Lepraria harrisiana Lendemer (2012)
 * Lepraria hodkinsoniana Lendemer (2011)
 * Lepraria humida Slav.-Bay. & Orange (2006)
 * Lepraria impossibilis Sipman (2004)
 * Lepraria incana (L.) Ach. (1803)
 * Lepraria indica Rajesh Bajpai & Upreti (2018) – India
 * Lepraria isidiata (Llimona) Llimona & A.Crespo (2004)
 * Lepraria jackii Tønsberg (1992)
 * Lepraria juanfernandezii M.Kukwa (2019)
 * Lepraria lanata Tønsberg (2007)
 * Lepraria larrainiana Lendemer (2010) – Chile
 * Lepraria lecanorica Tønsberg (2004)
 * Lepraria lendemeri Bungartz, Elix, G.Hillmann & Kalb (2013)
 * Lepraria leuckertiana (Zedda) L.Saag (2009)
 * Lepraria lobata Elix & Kalb (2006) – Australia
 * Lepraria lobificans Nyl. (1873)
 * Lepraria maderensis Kukwa & Flakus (2011)
 * Lepraria malouina Øvstedal (2012) – Falkland Islands
 * Lepraria membranacea (Dicks.) Vain. (1921)
 * Lepraria methylbarbatica Elix (2008)
 * Lepraria multiacida Aptroot (2002)
 * Lepraria neojackii Flakus & Kukwa (2007)
 * Lepraria neozelandica Barcenas-Peña, Grewe & Lumbsch (2021) – New Zealand
 * Lepraria nigrocincta Diederich, Sérus. & Aptroot (1997)
 * Lepraria nivalis J.R.Laundon (1992)
 * Lepraria normandinoides Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2007)
 * Lepraria nothofagi Elix & Kukwa (2010)
 * Lepraria nylanderiana Kümmerl. & Leuckert (1995)
 * Lepraria ohmiensis Kashiw., Keis. Kobay. & K.H.Moon (2009)
 * Lepraria oxybapha Lendemer (2012)
 * Lepraria pacifica Lendemer (2011)
 * Lepraria pallida Sipman (2004)
 * Lepraria pseudoarbuscula (Asahina) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria pulchra Orange & Wolseley (2005)
 * Lepraria rigidula (B.de Lesd.) Tønsberg (1992)
 * Lepraria salazinica Tønsberg (2007)
 * Lepraria santosii Argüello & A.Crespo (2006)
 * Lepraria sekikaica Elix (2011)
 * Lepraria sipmaniana (Kümmerl. & Leuckert) Kukwa (2002)
 * Lepraria squamatica Elix (2006)
 * Lepraria stephaniana Elix, Flakus & Kukwa (2010)
 * Lepraria subalbicans (I.M.Lamb) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria sulphurella Räsänen (1949)
 * Lepraria svalbardensis Tønsberg (2009)
 * Lepraria sylvicola Orange (2006)
 * Lepraria tenella (Tuck.) Lendemer & B.P.Hodk. (2013)
 * Lepraria toilenae Kantvilas & Kukwa (2006)
 * Lepraria torii Pérez-Ort. & T.Sprib. (2009)
 * Lepraria umbricola Tønsberg (1992)
 * Lepraria ulrikii Grewe, Barcenas-Peña, R.Diaz & Lumbsch (2021) – Australasia
 * Lepraria vouauxii (Hue) R.C.Harris (1987)
 * Lepraria xanthonica Lendemer (2010)
 * Lepraria xerophila Tønsberg (2004)
 * Lepraria zeorinica (L.Saag) Kukwa (2009)