Gabura insignis

Gabura insignis is a small bark-dwelling lichen in the family Arctomiaceae. It was first described in 2010 from the Pacific Northwest of North America, and was moved to the genus Gabura in 2020 after DNA-based studies (molecular phylogenetics) showed it to be closely related to Gabura fascicularis. Unlike its close relative, which produces disc-like fruiting bodies, G. insignis reproduces asexually by releasing powdery particles called soredia (asexual propagules), and sexual fruiting bodies have not been reported, at least in the Pacific Northwest. It is most common in the Pacific Northwest, from Alaska to California, but it also has widely separated (disjunct) records in Ireland and Scotland, and has been reported from Ecuador and Japan. Closely related evolutionary lines (lineages) occur on islands in the south-western Indian Ocean, and much of the group's genetic diversity is concentrated there. G. insignis typically grows on woody substrates (bark and twigs) in humid, low-elevation environments with oceanic climate conditions, but in Europe it has been found only as tiny, scarce patches, which may help explain why it is often missed in surveys.