About Ricasolia quercizans (Michx.) Stizenb.
Ricasolia quercizans (Michx.) Stizenb., also called Lobaria quercizans and commonly known as the smooth lungwort, is a macrolichen that belongs to the family Peltigeraceae. This species forms large, smooth growths that are grey in dry conditions and pale green when wet, and it often produces abundant red-brown apothecia. Most records of this lichen come from eastern North America, where its range extends from Newfoundland to northern Georgia, west as far as eastern Minnesota, with an isolated outlying population in the Ouachita Mountains. Isolated probable records of this species also exist from outside eastern North America: in South America it has been recorded in Bolivia, and in eastern Asia it has been recorded in China, Korea, and Outer Manchuria. In eastern North America, Ricasolia quercizans grows primarily on the bark of deciduous trees, most commonly maples of the Acer genus. Within the southern portion of its range in this region, it prefers sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Further north, where sugar maple is less common, it favors red maple (Acer rubrum). The Menomini people of Wisconsin use this lichen as food and for medicine.
