| Vermilacinia cedrosensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ramalinaceae |
| Genus: | Vermilacinia |
| Species: | V. cedrosensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Vermilacinia cedrosensis (J.E.Marsh & T.H.Nash) Spjut (1996) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Vermilacinia cedrosensis is a species of pale fruticose lichen that is endemic to Baja California, Mexico.
Vermilacinia cedrosensis is a pale fruticose lichen endemic to Baja California, Mexico, occurring on Cedros Island, the Vizcaíno Peninsula, and north along the main peninsula of the northern Baja California coast mountains to near Punta San Carlos. The species is usually found inland from the immediate coastal environment in wind-sheltered microenvironments, which may be leeward sides of small stones or rock ledges on vertical rock walls in narrow arroyos [1]
Vermilacinia cedrosensis is classified in subgenus Vermilacinia in which it is distinguished by its whitish to pale yellowish green thallus divided into flexuous tubular-prismatic branches arising from a holdfast. [2] The primary branches, generally less than 20 in number, and although usually curved, grow up to 6 cm in length and from 5 to 15 mm in width. They occasionally divide into equal secondary branches, usually well above the thallus base. Occasionally near apex are clusters of cupular apothecia, or rarely many short branches spreading radially.
The cortex is generally thinner than in the other species of the subgenus,(0–25 μm thick), especially thinning towards apex as seen by the exposed medulla, which adds white color to the branches, and is also generally creased and shallowly depressed. Pycnidia commonly appear as colorless pits in the cortex of upper half of branches, often with black pycnidia that develop to branch apices. Lichen substances are primarily three terpenes characteristic of the subgenus Vermilacinia, an unknown referred to as “T3”, bourgeanic acid, the diterpene (-)-16 α-hydroxykaurane, and the triterpene zeorin. Accessory lichen substances are often present, which may include any or all of the following: salazinic acid, an unknown terpenoid compound (“T4”) and usnic acid. [1]
Vermilacinia cedrosensis appears to have been first collected by Joseph Nelson Rose on Cedros Island during the Albatross Expedition, 10–12 March 1911. [3] His lichen specimens had been kept separate from the mounted and filed lichen collections in the herbarium at the Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany, US) [4] loose in brown standard herbarium paper, and were made available to Richard Spjut sometime after 1986 while he was undertaking a revision of the genus Niebla. [1] The species had already been collected by Richard Spjut about 40 miles north of Guerrero Negro in a narrow canyon of coastal mountains in May 1985 as part of a systematic collection of lichens for anti-tumor and HIV screening being conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In a collection of a 120 gram sample, (Spjut & Marin 9069, US [5] ) he distinguished the species from a similar species, V. paleoderma (Spjut & Marin 9074, US) [6] by its limp branches, lying on the surface of rock ledges rather than growing erect as seen in V. paleoderma. [1] In 1986, Spjut assigned the epithet name albicans—in regard to the thallus color—to the specimen he collected in an initial draft of a manuscript on the genus Niebla reviewed by the lichen curator, Mason E. Hale, Jr. [7] He collected the species again in May 1986 in the Sierra Hornitos (Spjut 1996, Plate 3A, see also Plate 10C [1] ) on the Vizcaíno Peninsula (Spjut, Marin & McCloud 9689A, US), [8] and on Cedros Island in April 1989 (Spjut & Marin 10544, US) in regard to a proposed lichen flora of Baja California, superseded by the ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert’ headed by Thomas Nash III, first volume published in 2002; the species named Niebla cedrosensis and described by Janet Marsh (with Thomas Nash III) in 1994 based on their collection of the species on Cedros Island earlier that same year, March 12, 1994. [9] It was transferred to the genus "Vermilacinia" in 1996, [1] and returned to the genus Niebla in 2004. [10]
Subgenus Vermilacinia differs from Niebla by the absence of chondroid strands, [11] and by lichen substance predominantly of terpenes; subgenus Vermilacinia commonly has “T3”, (-)-16 α-hydroxykaurane, and zeorin. [1] However, Peter Bowler and Janet Mash did not accept the presence of “chondroid strands” as a character attribute for separating genera of North American Ramalinaceae; only those in the Macaronesian and Mediterranean regions were distinguished from Ramalina by having chondroid strands unattached to the cortex, a distinction they reinforced by new name combinations made in Niebla for Macaronesian and Mediterranean species previously in Ramalina. [10] These Ramalinas had been classified as the “bourgaeana type”. [12] Macaronesian species generally have a reverse chemistry type to that seen in Niebla; for example, triterpenes occur with depsidones, instead of depsides [12] [13] ). The chemotypes of Macaronesian Ramalinas also seem related to the genus Vermilacinia, especially in regard to the chemosyndrome [14] seen in V. tigrina, [1] except zeorin is not mentioned for the Macaronesian species. In the Sonoran Desert lichen flora, the presence of (-)-16 α-hydroxykaurane is mentioned as key character for distinguishing Vermilacinia (as Niebla) from Ramalina. [15] Additionally, R. Heber Howe [16] had indicated the presence of chondroid strands was almost of generic importance, and perhaps would have distinguished what is now called Vermilacinia if thin-layer chromatography had been available to him during his time.
Vermilacinia, a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Ramalinaceae, is a yellow-green fruticose type of lichen with about 30 species that grow on rocks, trees, and soil within the fog zone along the Pacific Coast of North America and South America. The genus name refers to the thallus being divided into narrow worm-like (vermis) branches (lacinia);the latter part of the name (lacinia) generally applied in descriptions and taxonomic keys such as exemplified in a key to Sonoran Desert species of Ramalina.
Niebla 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.
Vermilacinia acicularis is a fruticose lichen that occurs in the Channel Islands of California. The type specimen was collected from San Clemente Island. Other specimens have been collected from Santa Barbara Island and Anacapa Island.
Vermilacinia combeoides is a fruticose lichen found on rocks along the Pacific Coast of North America from Sonoma County, California south to San Quintín, Baja California, and also on Santa Catalina Island and Guadalupe Island.
Vermilacinia johncasadyi is a rare fruticose lichen, found on rocks along the Pacific Coast of Baja California peninsula on Punta Cono, and directly westward across the ocean on Cedros Island.
Vermilacinia laevigata is a fruticose lichen that occurs in the fog zone along the Pacific Coast of the California Floristic Province from Marin County, California to 15 miles south of Misión San Vicente Ferrer in Baja California
Vermilacinia ligulata is an infrequent lichen found along the foggy Pacific Coast of Baja California in rock-walled narrow arroyos, on rocky peninsulas and on ridges within the Northern Vizcaíno Desert region, ranging from Punta Cono to just north of Punta Canoas, and along the east coast of Cedros Island. The species was first collected in May 1985 in the southern part of the northern peninsula of Baja California, about 100 km north of Guerrero Negro, 400 meters inland from the ocean on rocky walls with a northern exposure in a narrow estuary. The type is from the same locality but collected one year later, 19 May 1986.
Vermilacinia paleoderma is a pale yellow-green fruticose lichen that occurs commonly along the fog zone of the Pacific Coast of Northern Vizcaíno Desert region of Baja Californica and occasionally in the Chaparral Islands of California.
Vermilacinia procera is a fruticose lichen of local occurrences on rocks near the sea along the Pacific Coast from San Francisco California to the Channel Islands, and to Punta Escarpada in Baja California. The species is also reported to occur further south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula and on Cedros Island, but these reports are controversial in view of different interpretations of the species that include V. pumila and V. paleoderma that were not recognized at the time V. procera was described ; for example, a specimen collected on Guadalupe Island by Weber and MCoy (L-3605, COLO that was cited by Phillip Rundel and Peter Bowler in 1994 as belonging to Niebla procera, whereas in a revision of the genus by Richard Spjut in 1996, it was cited as belonging to Vermilacinia paleoderma. Both authorities generally agree to some extent on the description of the species and its geographical range within the California Floristic Province.
Vermilacinia pumila is a whitish-green fruticose lichen that occurs in fog areas along the Pacific Coast and offshore islands of North America. The species epithet pumila refers to the dwarf form of the thallus, in contrast to V. combeoides.
Vermilacinia reptilioderma is a rare fruticose lichen found on the Vizcaíno Peninsula and Cedros Island of Baja California. The epithet, reptilioderma, is in regard to the outer surface of the cortex appearing like the skin of a reptile, especially the brown snake, Pseudechis australis, the color of the thallus cortex often turning brown when stored in a herbarium.
Vermilacinia rigida is a dark green, rare fruticose lichen that occurs in fog areas along the Pacific Coast of Baja California, known only from two locations about 100 km north of Guerrero Negro. The epithet, rigida, is in regard to its stiff thallus branches.
Vermilacinia robusta is an olive-green fruticose lichen that occurs on rocks near ocean mist along the foggy Pacific Coast of southern California to northern Baja California and offshore islands. The epithet, robusta, was probably adopted in recognizing a more robust form of V. comboides, originally described as a variety of Ramalina combeoides by Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. in 1913.
Vermilacinia tuberculata is a fruticose lichen known only from Morro Bay along the Pacific Coast of California The epithet tuberculata is a reference to the tuberculate surface of the lichen.
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 corrugata 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 San Diego in California to southern Baja California. The epithet is in reference to corrugated cortex of the species.
Vermilacinia leonis is a fruticose lichen usually found on branches of shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America and South America; in North America it is found on the southern half of the main peninsula of Baja California north to the southern coast of the Vizcaíno Peninsula. In South America, it occurs on bushes and rocks in Chile; reported from Colchaqua (Valley) and Santiago The epithet is in regard to absence of the black transverse bands often seen in other species such as V. leopardina, V. tigrina and V. zebrina.
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.
Niebla limicola is a fruticose lichen that grows on barren mud flats and on sand among salt scrub along the Pacific Coast of the Vizcaíno Desert, of Baja California from San Vicente Canyon to Scammon’s Lagoon. The epithet, limicola is in reference to the thallus growing on barren (alkali) soil.