| Degelia plumbea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Degelia plumbea in Brittany, France | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Peltigerales |
| Family: | Pannariaceae |
| Genus: | Degelia |
| Species: | D. plumbea |
| Binomial name | |
| Degelia plumbea | |
| Synonyms | |
Degelia plumbea (also called blue felt lichen) [4] is a species of grey to blue-black or brown foliose lichen in the genus Degelia . [5] It mostly grows on trees in undisturbed woodlands but occasionally on coastal rocks. [5] [6] It is found widely in Britain and western Ireland as well as in America and Canada, as it grows in maritime Atlantic climates. [5] [7] [8]
D. plumbea is highly sensitive to acid rain and climatic changes. D. plumbea and other lichen are highly sensitive to high light and have a high-water holding capacity. Other factors like method of dispersal and obtaining the appropriate substrate effects the growth and prosperity of the fungi. The genes in the D. plumbea don’t share a common ancestral gene through speciation due to potential environmental changes. [9] [10] [11]
Degelia cyanoloma was previously thought to be a variant of D. plumbea. [12]
In 2022, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia formally declared blue felt lichen as its provincial lichen, becoming the first province in the country to designate a provincial lichen. [13]
