| Lobaria scrobiculata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lobaria scrobiculata on Acer rubrum (red maple) trunk, New Brunswick, Canada | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Peltigerales |
| Family: | Peltigeraceae |
| Genus: | Lobaria |
| Species: | L. scrobiculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Lobaria scrobiculata | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Lobaria scrobiculata, commonly known as the textured lungwort, is a large foliose, epiphytic lichen in the family Peltigeraceae.
The thallus of L. scrobiculata has broad, concave and rounded lobes, rather wider than in Lobaria pulmonaria . The upper surface has large shallow depressions (scrobiculate, hence the specific name). Blue-grey soredia, the asexual reproductive bodies, are always present along ridges and on the margins. The thallus has a blue-grey colour and pliable texture when hydrated but assumes a light grey or yellow-grey colour and papery texture when dehydrated. The underside is covered by light brown tomentum and rhizines except on raised areas that correspond to the depressions on the upper surface. Fungal fruit bodies (ascocarps), rarely present, are small dark red discs with a thick inflexed margin. [1] Thallus lobes grow away from the substrate in irregular patches as in L. pulmonaria but unlike the more regular rounded and flattened colonies of L. quercizans , L. amplissima and L. virens . The algal symbiont is the cyanobacterium Nostoc , in contrast to the green algae in most other species of Lobaria.
Lobaria scrobiculata is mostly found in temperate climates (Köppen climate classification Cf and Df climates, especially Cfb and Dfb) which have high rainfall, especially coastal districts of north west Europe, north eastern North America and north western North America, but there are also a few known occurrences in warmer countries such as Kenya. The distribution records are possibly very incomplete and biased towards Europe and North America. The map data at www.discoverlife.org shows the worldwide distribution of some of the recorded locations for L. scrobiculata.
In southern England, which may be representative of lowland western Europe, Lobaria species are very restricted in their distribution, in part because of a history of air pollution, forest loss and fragmentation but also because the climate is sub-optimal with relatively low rainfall. In contrast the cool, moist and mountainous regions of north west Scotland have a relatively high frequency of L. scrobiculata on suitable trees.
In Iceland it is found in only one location in the outermost Snæfellsnes Peninsula and is listed as critically endangered (CR). [2]
Lobarias are primarily found growing upon tree bark. The type of tree is important with deciduous angiosperms strongly preferred to gymnosperms. Within these angiosperms, rough barked mature trees with relatively high bark pH such as oaks or maples are a more suitable substrate than smooth-barked species such as birches. In the UK sessile oak ( Quercus petraea ), pedunculate oak ( Q. robur ) and European ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ) are the most important. In eastern North America sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ) and red maple ( A. rubrum ) are favoured but yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis ) can also be colonised. In the lowlands of southern England the presence of Lobarias is considered indicative of long forest habitat continuity for a particular site. In regions of high rainfall, low air pollution and a higher frequency of suitable habitat the species can be more mobile and able to colonise younger forests and trees but is still generally more prevalent in old-growth forests.
The presence of Lobaria species, along with certain other lichens, has been used as part of an index of forest continuity and habitat quality in Britain. [3]
The lichen is used for food by the Yupik people of Alaska. [4]
A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. Lichens have properties different from those of their component organisms. They come in many colors, sizes, and forms and are sometimes plant-like, but are not plants. They may have tiny, leafless branches (fruticose); flat leaf-like structures (foliose); grow crust-like, adhering tightly to a surface (substrate) like a thick coat of paint (crustose); have a powder-like appearance (leprose); or other growth forms.
Evernia prunastri, also known as oakmoss, is a species of lichen. It can be found in many mountainous temperate forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Oakmoss grows primarily on the trunk and branches of oak trees, but is also commonly found on the bark of other deciduous trees and conifers such as fir and pine. The thalli of oakmoss are short and bushy, and grow together on bark to form large clumps. Oakmoss thallus is flat and strap-like. They are also highly branched, resembling the form of antlers. The colour of oakmoss ranges from green to a greenish-white when dry, and dark olive-green to yellow-green when wet. The texture of the thalli is rough when dry and rubbery when wet. It is used extensively in modern perfumery.
Lobaria is a genus of foliose lichens, formerly classified in the family Lobariaceae, but now placed in the Peltigeraceae. They are commonly known as "lung wort" or "lungmoss" as their physical shape somewhat resembles a lung, and their ecological niche is similar to that of moss.
Lobaria pulmonaria is a large epiphytic lichen consisting of an ascomycete fungus and a green algal partner living together in a symbiotic relationship with a cyanobacterium—a symbiosis involving members of three kingdoms of organisms. Commonly known by various names like tree lungwort, lung lichen, lung moss, lungwort lichen, oak lungs or oak lungwort, it is sensitive to air pollution and is also harmed by habitat loss and changes in forestry practices. Its population has declined across Europe and L. pulmonaria is considered endangered in many lowland areas. The species has a history of use in herbal medicines, and recent research has corroborated some medicinal properties of lichen extracts.
Peltigerales is an order of lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The taxonomy of the group has seen numerous changes; it was formerly often treated as a suborder of the order Lecanorales. It contains two suborders, eight families and about 45 genera such as Lobaria and Peltigera.
Peltigera leucophlebia is a lichenized fungus in the family Peltigeraceae. It is commonly called ruffled freckled pelt. This and other species in the genus contain a green algae in the genus Coccomyxa and also cyanobacteria in the genus Nostoc as symbionts.
Chrysothrix candelaris, commonly known as the mustard powder lichen or gold dust lichen, is a species of leprose (powdery) lichen in the family Chrysothricaceae. It typically grows on tree bark, although it has also been recorded growing on rock. It does not show ascocarps or other reproductive structures, belonging to the group commonly known as the 'Fungi or lichens imperfecti' in the UK.
Lobaria quercizans or Ricasoliaquercizans, commonly known as the smooth lungwort, is a macrolichen in the family Peltigeraceae. It forms large, smooth, grey growths that often have abundant red-brown apothecia.
Menegazzia terebrata is a species of foliose lichen found scattered across many continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Lobaria oregana, also known as lettuce lichen and as Oregon lungwort, is a species of foliose lichen occurring in North American old-growth forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest in Washington state. Taking its common name from its lettuce-like appearance, the lichen grows in the tree canopy but falls to the forest floor, where it is consumed by deer, elk, and other animals. The species was first described by American botanist Edward Tuckerman in 1874 as Sticta oregana, and later (1889) transferred to the genus Lobaria by Swiss lichen specialist Johannes Müller Argoviensis. Via cyanobacteria, it fixes nitrogen from the air, which then enters the local ecosystem when eaten or when absorbed by rootlets which the host trees extend from their own bark into the lichen.
Boscastle to Widemouth is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, noted for its biological and geological characteristics. The Dizzard dwarf oak woodland is unique and of international importance for its lichen communities, with 131 species recorded.
Celtic Rainforest is a colloquial term which refers to the temperate rainforest of the British Isles. These woodlands are also variously referred to as Atlantic rainforest, Upland Oakwoods, Atlantic Oakwoods or Western Oakwoods. Today, the Celtic Rainforest exists as small fragments of the temperate rainforest that once covered much of Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. The majority of these fragments occur on steep-sided slopes above rivers and lakes which have avoided clearance and intensive grazing pressure. There are notable examples in Scotland on the islands and shores of Loch Maree, Loch Sunart, Loch Lomond, and one of the best preserved sites on the remote Taynish Peninsula in Argyll. In Wales, they occur on steep-sided riverine gorges in Snowdonia and Mid Wales. In England, there are examples in the Lake District, and steep-sided riverine and estuarine valleys in South West England, including the Fowey valley in Cornwall, and the valley of the river Dart which flows off Dartmoor, and has rainfall in excess of 2 metres per year.
Ramalina menziesii, the lace lichen or fishnet, is a pale yellowish-green to grayish-green foliose lichen. It grows up to a meter long, hanging from bark and twigs in a distinctive net-like or lace-like pattern that is unlike any other lichen in North America. It becomes a deeper green when wet. Apothecia are lecanorine. it is an important food source for deer in the Coast Range of California, and a source of nest material for birds. It is highly variable in its growth form, with branches sometimes so slender as to appear like strands, sometimes tiny, and sometimes large with broadly flattened branches.
Parmotrema rampoddense, commonly known as the long-whiskered ruffle lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is widely distributed in tropical regions and grows on the bark of oak and palm trees.
Umbilicaria polyphylla, commonly known as petaled rock tripe, is a widely distributed species of saxicolous lichen in the family Umbilicariaceae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum as Lichen polyphyllus. German botanist Johann Christian Gottlob Baumgarten transferred it to the genus Umbilicaria in 1790. The lichen has a dark brown to black thallus that measures 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) in diameter. The upper surface is smooth, while the lower surface is sooty black. It grows on exposed rocks, typically in arctic-alpine habitats.
Punctelia appalachensis, commonly known as the Appalachian speckled shield lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in the eastern United States and eastern Canada. The lichen was first formally described in 1962 by lichenologist William Culberson as a species of Parmelia. He collected the type specimen growing on tree bark in West Virginia, Hildur Krog transferred it to the newly circumscribed genus Punctelia in 1982.
Lobaria macaronesica is a species of foliose lichen in the family Peltigeraceae. Found in Macaronesia, it was formally described as a new species in 2010 by Carolina Cornejo and Christoph Scheidegger. The type specimen was collected on Madeira (Portugal), south of the Ribeira da Janela, at an elevation of 1,225 m (4,019 ft).
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.
Ochrolechia africana, commonly known as the frosty saucer lichen, is a species of crustose and corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Ochrolechiaceae. It is a widely distributed species, found in tropical and subtropical areas of southern Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America. The lichen is characterized by the presence of a white "frosty" or powdery apothecia.
Placidium arboreum, commonly known as the tree stipplescale, is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), squamulose (scaley) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It has a primarily North American distribution, with a range extending from eastern Canada south to Mexico, although it has also been reported from the West Indies and from Argentina.