About Dimelaena oreina (Ach.) Norman
Dimelaena oreina, commonly called the golden moonglow lichen, is a greenish yellow placodioid lichen. The greenish yellow color of its thallus comes from usnic acid located in the cortex. This species grows on steep surfaces of hard siliceous rock at elevations between 400 and 2,800 metres, or 1,300 and 9,200 feet. It has a worldwide distribution, and is absent from the tropics, Australasia, and Antarctica. It is common in the Sonoran Desert, which spans Arizona and California in the United States, and Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Chihuahua in Mexico.
