Hypotrachyna catawbiensis

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Hypotrachyna catawbiensis
Everniastrum catawbiense - Flickr - pellaea.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Parmeliaceae
Genus: Hypotrachyna
Species:
H. catawbiensis
Binomial name
Hypotrachyna catawbiensis
(Degel.) Divakar, A.Crespo, Sipman, Elix & Lumbsch (2013)
Synonyms [1]
List
  • Parmelia sorocheila var. catawbiensisDegel. (1941)
  • Parmelia catawbiensis(Degel.) Hale & M.Wirth (1971)
  • Cetrariastrum catawbiense(Degel.) W.L.Culb. & C.F.Culb. (1981)
  • Everniastrum catawbiense(Degel.) Hale ex Sipman (1986)

Hypotrachyna catawbiensis, the powder-tipped antler lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. [2] First described in 1941, it forms pale ivory to greenish-gray leaf-like growths that attach loosely to tree bark or rocks. The lichen has narrow, forking lobes that often curl inward, and produces powdery structures called soredia for asexual reproduction. Though originally discovered in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, it has since been found across tropical and temperate regions worldwide, including Mexico, South America, East Africa, China, and Papua New Guinea. It usually grows at high elevations. Genetic studies have shown that despite this widely scattered distribution, populations from different continents belong to the same species. It typically grows as an epiphyte (an organism that grows on other plants) on hardwood trees, though it can also be found on conifers and rocks.

Contents

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described as new to science in 1941 by the Swedish lichenologist Gunnar Degelius. He initially classified it as a variety of Parmelia sorocheila, distinguishing it from the typical variety by its K− reaction in its medulla. The type specimen was collected from Mount Le Conte in Tennessee, growing on Rhododendron stems at an elevation of 1,910 m (6,270 ft). Additional specimens were found growing on twigs of Picea rubens and Abies fraseri in the same area. [3] Mason Hale and Michael Wirth elevated the taxon to full species status in 1971, based on its distinctive chemical properties, smaller size, and its apparently endemic distribution in the southern Appalachians. [4]

In 1981, William and Chicita Culberson transferred the species to Cetrariastrum when they determined that Everniastrum—the genus in which it was previously placed—was nomenclaturally invalid. This was because Everniastrum had been based on a section name published by Auguste-Marie Hue in 1898 that lacked the required Latin description. Although Culberson and Culberson had planned to validate Everniastrum, the publication of Cetrariastrum by Harrie Sipman in 1980 made this the correct genus name for these lichens. [5] In 1986, Sipman validated the name Everniastrum and made the necessary new combination to transfer the species back to that genus. [6] Finally, in 2013, Pradeep Divakar and colleagues transferred the species to Hypotrachyna when molecular phylogenetics studies showed that Everniastrum, Cetrariastrum and Parmelinopsis were nested within Hypotrachyna sensu lato (in the broad sense). Rather than recognize multiple small genera that would be difficult to circumscribe morphologically, they chose to expand the concept of Hypotrachyna and reduce the other genera to subgeneric rank within it. [7]

The lichen is commonly known as the "antler-tipped powder lichen". [8]

Description

Close up of terminal branches showing truncate lobe tips, powdery soredia, and rhizines. Everniastrum catawbiense - Flickr - pellaea (2).jpg
Close up of terminal branches showing truncate lobe tips, powdery soredia, and rhizines.

The lichen's vegetative body (thallus) measures 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) long, occasionally reaching 7 cm (2.8 in), [5] forming foliose to somewhat tufted growths that attach very loosely to the surface. [9] Despite being a foliose lichen, H. catawbiensis has a growth pattern that makes it resemble a fruticose (bushy) form. [10] The flattened segments ( lobes ) are 0.5–1 mm wide, occasionally expanding to 2 mm. These lobes branch in a regularly forking ( dichotomous ) pattern and may be flat or curled inward toward their lower surface. [5] The lobe tips are typically squared-off (truncate) and only occasionally have cilia . [9]

The upper surface is pale ivory or greenish-gray in color and develops specialized powdery structures called soredia that emerge through the surface, particularly at or near the lobe tips. [5] Along the margins of the lobes are small root-like attachments called rhizines, which extend up to 1 mm in length (occasionally 2 mm) and can be simple or sparingly branched. [5]

The lower surface of the thallus is black or becomes brown-colored toward the tips of the lobes. It appears smooth or shows subtle lengthwise wrinkles, and is either bare or has only a few scattered rhizines. No fruiting bodies (apothecia) or asexual spore-producing structures (pycnidia) have been observed in this species. [5]

When tested with chemical reagents for common spot tests, the outer layer ( cortex ) shows K+ (yellow), while the inner layer (medulla) is K−, C+ (pink), and PD−. [5] The medulla contains gyrophoric acid as a major component and protolichesterinic acid as a submajor component. [9] If the medulla does not react with K, it will still show KC+ (pink). [5]

Habitat and distribution

The species grows at elevations of 1,650–2,000 m (5,410–6,560 ft) in the mountains of western North Carolina and Virginia and eastern Tennessee, United States. [5] Its northern distribution in North America extends to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, Canada. [11] It is also found in the Hengduan Mountains of China at elevations of 2,100–2,800 m (6,900–9,200 ft), where it commonly grows on Pinus bark. [12] It has also been recorded in the Baliem Valley of Papua New Guinea. [13] In the Southern Appalachian Mountains, it is not rare at high elevations, though never abundant anywhere in its range. It grows primarily as an epiphyte on hardwood trees, particularly Prunus , Rhododendron , Acer , and Betula , and less commonly on conifers like Abies and Picea . About 60% of known collections are from hardwoods, 25% from conifers, and 15% from rock substrates. [5] In the Appalachians, it is commonly found growing alongside Pseudevernia cladonia and other species of Hypotrachyna . [10]

The species has also been found at elevations of 2,050–3,000 m (6,730–9,840 ft) in Costa Rica, [5] Venezuela and Ecuador and scattered locations in east-central Mexico, [9] at 3,450 m (11,320 ft) in Papua New Guinea, and at 3,900 m (12,800 ft) in Uganda. The populations found outside North America tend to have longer and more linear thallus lobes, more abundant and somewhat longer marginal rhizines, and (in South American specimens) more abundant soralia distributed over the distal parts of the lobes, rather than being confined to the lobe tips as in Appalachian specimens. [5] Molecular phylogenetic analysis confirms that populations from different continents belong to the same evolutionary lineage despite their disjunct distribution. [14] [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Parmelia</i> (fungus) Genus of lichens

Parmelia is a genus of medium to large foliose (leafy) lichens. It has a global distribution, extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic continent but concentrated in temperate regions. There are about 40 species in Parmelia. In recent decades, the once large genus Parmelia has been divided into a number of smaller genera according to thallus morphology and phylogenetic relatedness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parmeliaceae</span> Family of lichens

The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2700 species in 71 genera, it is the largest family of lichen-forming fungi. The most speciose genera in the family are the well-known groups: Xanthoparmelia, Usnea, Parmotrema, and Hypotrachyna.

<i>Hypogymnia</i> Genus of lichens

Hypogymnia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. They are commonly known as tube lichens, bone lichens, or pillow lichens. Most species lack rhizines that are otherwise common in members of the Parmeliaceae, and have swollen lobes that are usually hollow. Other common characteristics are relatively small spores and the presence of physodic acid and related lichen products. The lichens usually grow on the bark and wood of coniferous trees.

<i>Myelochroa</i> Genus of lichens

Myelochroa is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. They are commonly known as axil-bristle lichens. It was created in 1987 to contain species formerly placed in genus Parmelina that had a yellow-orange medulla due to the presence of secalonic acids. Characteristics of the genus include tightly attached thalli with narrow lobes, cilia on the axils, and a rhizinate black lower surface. Chemical characteristics are the production of zeorin and related triterpenoids in the medulla. Myelochroa contains about 30 species, most of which grow on bark. The genus has centres of distribution in Asia and North America.

<i>Melanohalea</i> Genus of lichen

Melanohalea is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains 30 mostly Northern Hemisphere species that grow on bark or on wood. The genus is characterised by the presence of pseudocyphellae, usually on warts or on the tips of isidia, a non-pored epicortex and a medulla containing depsidones or lacking secondary metabolites. Melanohalea was circumscribed in 2004 as a segregate of the morphologically similar genus Melanelia, which was created in 1978 for certain brown Parmelia species. The methods used to estimate the evolutionary history of Melanohalea suggest that its diversification primarily occurred during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs.

<i>Melanelixia</i> Genus of fungi

Melanelixia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains 15 Northern Hemisphere species that grow on bark or on wood. The genus is characterized by a pored or fenestrate epicortex, and the production of lecanoric acid as the primary chemical constituent of the medulla. Melanelixia was circumscribed in 2004 as a segregate of the related genus Melanelia.

<i>Relicina</i> Genus of lichens

Relicina is a genus of foliose lichens belonging to the large family Parmeliaceae. It contains 60 species.

<i>Xanthoparmelia</i> Genus of fungi

Xanthoparmelia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. This genus of lichen is commonly found in the United States, South America, southern Africa, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

<i>Esslingeriana</i> Single-species genus of lichen

Esslingeriana is a fungal genus in the family Parmeliaceae. The genus is monotypic, containing the single foliose lichen species Esslingeriana idahoensis, commonly known as the tinted rag lichen. It is found in northwestern North America.

Hypotrachyna lueckingii is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is only known to occur at high elevations on the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica.

Relicina colombiana is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in high-elevation páramo of the Eastern Cordillera in Colombia, it was described as new to science in 2011.

Parmelia asiatica is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described as new to science in 2011 by lichenologists Ana Crespo and Pradeep Divakar, based on specimens from Yunnan, China. Since then, its known distribution has expanded to include various regions of Russia, parts of North America, and as of 2024, European Russia. The species is found in the forests of temperate and boreal climates, growing on the bark of various tree species. Parmelia asiatica is distinguished by its small thallus with narrow, more or less linear lobes, soralia that appear at the ends of the lobes, marginal linear pseudocyphellae, and a chemical composition that includes atranorin, salazinic acid, and consalazinic acid. While similar to other Parmelia species, it can be differentiated from them by its morphological and chemical characteristics.

Remototrachyna is a genus of foliose lichens in the large family Parmeliaceae. It was separated from the genus Hypotrachyna based on the structure of the excipulum and genetic differences.

<i>Notoparmelia</i> Genus of lichens

Notoparmelia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It includes 18 species that grow on bark and rocks, and are mostly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The genus was created in 2014 as a segregate of Parmelia.

Hypotrachyna vainioi is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in Brazil.

Parmelia mayi is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in the northern Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, where it grows on rocks and on the trunks of paper birch and balsam fir. Parmelia mayi is morphologically indistinguishable from Parmelia saxatilis, but is distinct in its distribution, chemistry, and genetics.

<i>Parmelia barrenoae</i> Species of lichen

Parmelia barrenoae is a species of foliose lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2005. Before this, it was lumped together as one of several lichens in the Parmelia sulcata group—a species complex of genetically distinct lookalikes. Parmelia barrenoae is widely distributed, occurring in Europe, western North America, Africa, and Asia.

Parmelia imbricaria is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in western Canada, it was formally described as a new species in 2017 by Trevor Goward, Pradeep Kumar Divakar, María del Carmen Molina, and Ana Crespo. The type specimen was collected by Goward near the Clearwater River drainage, where it was found at an elevation of 700 m (2,300 ft) growing on a basalt boulder. The specific epithet refers to the "imbricate" lobes of the thallus. The lichen occurs in western Canada, with a range including southern Yukon and extending south to southern inland British Columbia. The European Parmelia pinatifida is a closely related species.

Parmelia rojoi is a species of foliose (leafy), saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It is known to occur in a couple of humid forests in southern Spain. It is quite similar in appearance to the more widespread Parmelia saxatilis, but has a more fragile thallus and smaller isidia.

Hypotrachyna constictovexans is a little-known species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Known only from a single specimen collected in 1976, it is found in the highlands of Peru. Its thallus can grow over 5 cm wide, featuring long, straight, and separate lobes that are highly convex and tube-like, with a pale grey, slightly shiny upper surface adorned with cylindrical isidia.

References

  1. ↑ "GSD Species Synonymy. Current Name: Hypotrachyna catawbiensis (Degel.) Divakar, A. Crespo, Sipman, Elix & Lumbsch, in Divakar, Crespo, Núñez-Zapata, Flakus, Sipman, Elix & Lumbsch, Phytotaxa 132(1): 31 (2013)". Species Fungorum . Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Hypotrachyna catawbiensis (Degel.) Divakar, A. Crespo, Sipman, Elix & Lumbsch". Catalogue of Life . Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  3. ↑ Degelius, G. (1941). "Contributions to the lichen flora of North America II. The lichen flora of the Great Smoky Mountains" (PDF). Arkiv för Botanik. 30A (3): 64.
  4. ↑ Hale, Mason E.; Wirth, Michael (1971). "Notes on Parmelia subgenus Everniiformes with descriptions of 6 new species". Phytologia. 22: 36–40.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Culberson, William Louis; Culberson, Chicita F. (1981). "The genera Cetrariastrum and Concamerella (Parmeliaceae): a chemosystematic synopsis". The Bryologist. 84 (3): 273–314. doi:10.2307/3242843. JSTOR   3242843.
  6. ↑ Sipman, H. (1986). "Notes on the genus Everniastrum (Parmeliaceae)". Mycotaxon. 26: 235–251.
  7. ↑ Divakar, Pradeep K.; Crespo, Ana; Núñez-Zapata, Jano; Flakus, Adam; Sipman, Harrie J.M.; Elix, John A.; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2013). "A molecular perspective on generic concepts in the Hypotrachyna clade (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 132 (1): 21–38. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.132.1.2 . hdl:10553/10587 . Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  8. ↑ Brodo, Irwin M.; Sharnoff, Sylvia Duran; Sharnoff, Stephen (2001). Lichens of North America. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 313–314. ISBN   978-0-300-08249-4.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Nash III, Thomas H.; Pérez-Pérez, Rosa Emilia; Elix, John A. (2016). "Hypotrachyna in Mexico". In Herrera-Campos, Maria; Pérez-Pérez, Rosa Emilia; Nash, Thomas H. III (eds.). Lichens of Mexico. The Parmeliaceae – Keys, distribution and specimen descriptions. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 110. Stuttgart: J. Cramer. p. 172. ISBN   978-3-443-58089-6.
  10. 1 2 Tripp, Erin A.; Lendemer, James C. (2020). Field Guide to the Lichens of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press. p. 172. ISBN   978-1-62190-514-1.
  11. ↑ Gowan, Sharon P.; Brodo, Irwin M. (1988). "The lichens of Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada". The Bryologist. 91 (4): 255–325 [311]. doi:10.2307/3242770. JSTOR   3242770.
  12. 1 2 Wang, Xin Yu; Zhang, Yan Yun; Liu, Dong; Li, Li Juan; Yang, Mei Xia; Yin, An Cheng; Wang, Li Song (2020). "Taxonomic study of Hypotrachyna subg. Everniastrum (Hale Ex Sipman) Divakar, A.Crespo, Sipman, Elix & Lumbsch (Ascomycota) from China". Cryptogamie, Mycologie. 41 (12): 193–209. doi: 10.5252/cryptogamie-mycologie2020v41a12 .
  13. ↑ Suharno, Suharno; Chrystomo, Linus Y.; Sujarta, Puguh; Tanjung, Rosye H.R. (2020). "Rapid assessment of lichen diversity in Baliem Valley, Jayawijaya, Papua, Indonesia". Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity. 21 (6): 2403–2409. doi: 10.13057/biodiv/d210610 .
  14. ↑ Kirika, Paul M.; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Crespo, Ana; Gatheri, Grace W.; Mugambi, George; Leavitt, Steven D.; Moncada, Bibiana; Thorsten Lumbsch, H. (2016). "Molecular data show that Hypotrachyna sorocheila (Parmeliaceae) is not monophyletic". The Bryologist. 119 (2): 172–180. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-119.2.172.
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