User:MeegsC/Articles/Dirina massiliensis

Dirina massiliensis is a species of crustose lichenized fungus. First described by Michel Charles Durieu de Maisonneuve and Camille Montagne in 1848.

Taxonomy and etymology
Dirina massiliensis was first described in 1801 by James Edward Smith, who gave it the name Lichen conspurcatus. The species was later subsumed into the genus Variolaria.

Michel Charles Durieu de Maisonneuve and Camille Montagne in 1848 from a specimen collected in Algeria. It has three distinct forms: aponina, massiliensis, and sorediata.

Description
Dirina massiliensis is a crustose lichen with a thick thallus that can range in color from nearly white to brownish gray with a lilac tinge. The thallus is areolate (which means it appears to be made up of many small, joined "islands" of material) and has a distinct brown edge.