Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Chroococcidiopsis is not an alga at all, rather a cyanobacterium ("blue-green alga"). There are about many species of Chroococcidiopsis that require special techniques to differentiate. Chroococcidiopsis species can live either symbiotically with a fungus as a lichen, or free in the soil. Lichenized Chroococcidiopsis appears as blue green cells either singly or in small clusters mostly near the surface of the thallus. Apparently, some but not all species of Chroococcidiopsis can fix nitrogen. We photographed Chroococcidiopsis in the thallus of the lichen Lichinella nigritella.
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Chroococcidiopsis, photomicrograph of cells within the medulla of the lichen Lichinella nigritella, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Grant Cty., Hell's Half Acre, October 13, 2019

Chroococcidiopsis, photomicrograph of cells within the medulla of the lichen Lichinella nigritella, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Grant Cty., Hell's Half Acre, October 13, 2019

Chroococcidiopsis, photomicrograph of cells within the medulla of the lichen Lichinella nigritella, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Grant Cty., Hell's Half Acre, October 13, 2019