Description: This species is only likely to be met with among the crooked outcrops and block scree of the Irish upland areas. It grows best on gritty, siliceous rocks where it is mosaic-forming. The thallus is predominantly chocolate brown, the surface cracked into areoles (‘islands’). The most distinctive feature is the thick, purple or red-brown, wavy-edged discs which lie conspicuously on the surface of the thallus. In Ireland, the species is only recorded from County Donegal.

Key Identification Features:

• An upland lichen found on the sheltered sides of vertical gritstones; thallus brown spotted with purple-hued discs with thick wavy margins
• All spot tests and reactions are negative.

Original text submitted by Vince J. Giavarini

Distribution Map from NBN: Fuscidea austera at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Fuscidea austera at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.