Aspicilia is a genus of mostly crustose areolate lichens that grow on rock. Most members have black apothecia discs that are slightly immersed in the areolas, hence the common name"Given the same reason, the naming of Aspicilia is derived from the Greek word for "shield concave".
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.
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.
The Lecideaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecideales. It contains about 30 genera and roughly 250 species. A major distinguishing characteristic of the family is the lecanoroid form of the fruiting bodies: typically circular, dark, and without a thalline margin. Most species in the family are lichenised with green algae, although a few species, scattered amongst several genera, are lichenicolous—they live on other lichens. Lecideaceae lichens tend to grow on rocks, wood, and soil. Several Lecideaceae species accelerate the weathering of rock surfaces, a process known as pedogenesis, by extending their hyphae into cracks and expelling rock flakes. This contributes to significantly faster weathering rates in certain environments, impacts various materials from natural rocks to man-made Sekishu roof tiles, and involves key biomolecules identified for survival and biodeterioration, including compounds to withstand intense ultraviolet radiation.
Niebla, also known as the sea-fog lichens, is a genus of yellow-green fruticose lichens that grow on rocks, trees, and shrubs within the fog zone of coastal North America, or more narrowly defined to occur on rocks and soil along the Pacific Coast from Mendocino County in California south to Baja California Sur.
Menegazzia foraminulosa is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose lichen that is endemic to New Zealand. The lichen was first formally described as a new species in 1876 by August von Krempelhuber. Friedrich Bitter transferred it to the genus Menegazzia in 1901. The species contains several lichen products, including depsides, depsidones, as well as fatty acids and pigments.
Menegazzia terebrata is a species of foliose lichen found scattered across many continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
A spot test in lichenology is a spot analysis used to help identify lichens. It is performed by placing a drop of a chemical reagent on different parts of the lichen and noting the colour change associated with application of the chemical. The tests are routinely encountered in dichotomous keys for lichen species, and they take advantage of the wide array of lichen products produced by lichens and their uniqueness among taxa. As such, spot tests reveal the presence or absence of chemicals in various parts of a lichen. They were first proposed as a method to help identify species by the Finnish lichenologist William Nylander in 1866.
Depsidones are chemical compounds that are sometimes found as secondary metabolites in lichens. They are esters that are both depsides and cyclic ethers. An example is norstictic acid.
Vermilacinia cephalota is a fruticose lichen usually found on trees, shrubs and wooden fences in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America from southeastern Alaska to the Vizcaíno Peninsula of Baja California.
Vermilacinia cerebra is a fruticose lichen that grows on trees and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America from the Channel Islands and mainland California near Los Angeles to southern Baja California, also occurring in South America in the Antofagasta Province of northern Chile. The epithet is in reference to the apical swollen lobes that resemble the cerebrum of the brain.
Vermilacinia leopardina is a fruticose lichen usually that grows abundantly on the branches of shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America, in the Channel Islands and on the mainland of California from Santa Barbara County south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula of Baja California. The species is also reported to occur in Chile, based on a single specimen mounted on a large index card off to one corner with the type (biology) of Usnea tumidula in the center and bottom ; it is possible that the specimen of V. leopardina was from North America and placed on the card for the purpose of making a comparison to the type for Usnea tumidula, which was annotated Ramalina ceruchis var. gracilior Muell.Arg., a name of uncertain status. The epithet, leopardina, is in reference to the black transverse bands and irregularly shaped black spots commonly seen on the thallus branches that obviously imply a similarity to the leopard animal, while also making comparative distinctions to other black banded species: V. tigrina and V. zebrina, obviously to a tiger and zebra, and to V. leonis, obviously a lion, which has no black stripes.
Vermilacinia tigrina is a fruticose lichen that grows on branches of shrubs and on earth among cactus and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America and South America; in North America found in the Channel Islands and near San Diego, California, and in central and southern Baja California; and in South America from Peru to Chile. The epithet is in reference to the irregular black spots or bands on the thallus branches.
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.
Salazinic acid is a depsidone with a lactone ring. It is found in some lichens, and is especially prevalent in Parmotrema and Bulbothrix, where its presence or absence is often used to help classify species in those genera.
Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol derivatives, chromones, xanthones, depsides, and depsidones. Over 800 lichen products of known chemical structure have been reported in the scientific literature, and most of these compounds are exclusively found in lichens. Examples of lichen products include usnic acid, atranorin, lichexanthone, salazinic acid, and isolichenan, an α-glucan. Many lichen products have biological activity, and research into these effects is ongoing.
Xanthoparmelia cumberlandia is a lichen which belongs to the Xanthoparmelia genus. It is also known as a member of the rockfrong lichens due to its coloration.
Succinprotocetraric acid is an organic chemical compound with the formula C22H18O12. It is the ester of succinic acid and protocetraric acid and it is classified as a depsidone.
Connorstictic acid is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as depsidones. It occurs as a secondary metabolite in many lichen species in several genera.
Buellia nashii is a species of lichen characterized by its crustose thallus, typically found in the Sonoran Desert Region and adjacent areas. It was first described by Bungartz et al. The species is named in honor of Dr. Thomas H. Nash III, a notable lichenologist and the Ph.D. supervisor of the author.
