| Parmelia fraudans | |
|---|---|
 | |
| in Wells Gray region, British Columbia, Canada | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Parmeliaceae |
| Genus: | Parmelia |
| Species: | P. fraudans |
| Binomial name | |
| Parmelia fraudans (Nyl.) Nyl. (1869) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Parmelia fraudans is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on rocks.
The lichen was originally named as a subspecies of Parmelia saxatilis by William Nylander in 1861. He noted its occurrence on rocks among mosses in North Savo as well as in Kajaani. [2] Nylander promoted it to species status in 1869. [3]
Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows that Parmelia fraudans is a member of the Parmelia sulcata species group, and it is estimated to have begun diversification during the Pliocene, about 3.3 million years ago. [4]
The foliose (leafy) thallus of Parmelia fraudans is tightly attached to its substrate, typically measuring 4–16 cm (1.6–6.3 in) in diameter. The brittle, flat lobes that comprise the thallus range from contiguous to overlapping, and are 1–4 mm wide, with truncated tips. The colour of the upper thallus surface is grey to yellowish grey, while texturally it is smooth to delicately pitted, with pseudocyphellae and soredia. The soredia, which somewhat resemble isidia, are abundant and are concentrated along the margins of the thallus. The medulla is white. The thallus undersurface is black in the centre, becoming brown towards the margins. Numerous black rhizines (both branched and unbranched) act as holdfasts. Apothecia are rarely observed; when present, they measure 2–4 mm in diameter and have a dark brown disc, with soredia typically on the apothecial margin. The ascospores have an ellipsoid shape and measure 10–12 by 5–6 μm. [5]
The expected results of standard chemical spot tests on Parmelia fraudans are cortex K+ (yellow), C−, KC−, P+ (yellow); medulla K+ (yellow becoming deep red), C−, KC−, and P+ (orange). Secondary compounds found in the lichen are atranorin and chloroatranorin in the cortex (and sometimes usnic acid in the soralia), and salazinic acid as a major component of the medulla, with minor amounts of consalazinic acid and protolichesterinic acid. The yellowish tone of the soralia caused by usnic acid is unique in the genus Parmelia. [5]
Parmelia fraudans occurs in Europe and North America, where it grows on rocks. Its North American distribution extends from Alaska [6] south to Mexico. [5] Although it is generally rare in Eastern Canada, it was reported as new to Nova Scotia in 2022. [7] In Europe, it has been recorded from the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Finland, Greenland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Slovakia. [8] In the 2019 red list of Estonian lichens, it was classified as a critically endangered species due to a reduction of its range and a decrease in population size (compared to its 2008 assessment). [9]
Parmelia is a genus of medium to large foliose 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.
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.
Pseudephebe is a genus of fruticose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains three species that grow on rocks.
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.
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 characterized 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 compounds. Melanohalea was circumscribed in 2004 as a segregate of the morphologically similar genus Melanelia.
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.
Cetrelia is a genus of leafy lichens in the large family Parmeliaceae. They are commonly known as sea-storm lichens, alluding to the wavy appearance of their lobes. The name of the genus, circumscribed in 1968 by the husband and wife lichenologists William and Chicita Culberson, alludes to the former placement of these species in the genera Cetraria and Parmelia.
Punctelia is a genus of foliose lichens belonging to the large family Parmeliaceae. The genus, which contains about 50 species, was segregated from genus Parmelia in 1982. Characteristics that define Punctelia include the presence of hook-like to thread-like conidia, simple rhizines, and point-like pseudocyphellae. It is this last feature that is alluded to in the vernacular names speckled shield lichens or speckleback lichens.
Everniopsis is a fungal genus in the family Parmeliaceae. It consists of a single species, the bark-dwelling lichen Everniopsis trulla, which occurs in Africa and South America.
Parmelia asiatica is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It occurs in China and the Russian Far East, where it grows on Rhododendron tree trunks in temperate regions. It was Described as new to science in 2011 by lichenologists Ana Crespo and Pradeep Divakar. The species is distinguished by its terminal soralia, marginal linear pseudocyphellae, and chemical composition, which includes the substances atranorin and salazinic acid. Parmelia asiatica is similar to Parmelia protosulcata but differs in the presence of salazinic acid and its distribution in Southeast Asia.
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.
Bulbothrix meizospora is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in Africa, Asia, and South America, where it grows on tree bark.
Melanohalea subolivacea, commonly known as the brown-eyed camouflage lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.
Punctelia reddenda is a widely distributed species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It occurs in Africa, Europe, North America, and South America, where it grows on bark and on rock.
Punctelia hypoleucites, commonly known as the southwestern speckled shield lichen, is a species of foliose (leafy) lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. First formally described by Finnish botanist William Nylander as a species of Parmelia, it was transferred to the genus Punctelia in 1982. The lichen is found in Africa, North America, and South America, where it grows on the bark of both hardwood and coniferous trees. Its greenish-grey thallus is covered with tiny white pseudocyphellae – minute holes in the thallus surface that facilitate gas exchange. Some macroscopic features that help distinguish this species from other related members of the genus include the presence and the structure of the apothecia, the absence of asexual surface propagules, and the light brown color of the thallus undersurface. Chemically, the presence of lecanoric acid in the medulla and atranorin in the cortex help distinguish it from lookalikes.
Punctelia perreticulata is a widely distributed species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It occurs in Mediterranean Europe and Russia, North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, where it grows on rocks, bark, or wood. Its main distinguishing features are its thallus surface, marked with many shallow depressions, grooves, or pits, and sorediate pseudocyphellae. The lower side of the thallus is ivory to tan towards the centre and the major secondary metabolite in the medulla is lecanoric acid. A lookalike species with which it has been historically confused is Punctelia subrudecta; this lichen can be distinguished from Punctelia perreticulata by the texture of the thallus surface, or, more reliably, by the length of its conidia.
Punctelia stictica is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is widely distributed lichen, recorded in Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Greenland. It is typically found growing on rocks.
Punctelia borreri is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is a common and widely distributed species, occurring in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. The lichen typically grows on bark of deciduous trees, and less commonly on rock. Some European countries have reported increases in the geographic range or regional frequency of the lichen in recent decades, attributed alternatively to a reduction of atmospheric sulphur dioxide levels or an increase in temperatures resulting from climate change.
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.
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.