Xanthoparmelia conspersa

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Xanthoparmelia conspersa
Xanthoparmelia conspersa SM1 (1).JPG
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Parmeliaceae
Genus: Xanthoparmelia
Species:
X. conspersa
Binomial name
Xanthoparmelia conspersa
(Ehrh. ex Ach.) Hale (1974)
Synonyms [1]
  • Lichen conspersusEhrh. ex Ach. (1805)
  • Lobaria conspersa(Ehrh. ex Ach.) P.Gaertn., G.Mey. & Scherb. (1801)
  • Parmelia conspersa(Ehrh. ex Ach.) Ach. (1803)
  • Imbricaria conspersaEhrh. ex Ach.) DC. (1805)

Xanthoparmelia conspersa, commonly known as the peppered rock-shield, is a foliose lichen and the type species of genus Xanthoparmelia . It is widely distributed in temperate zones, and has been recorded from Japan, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America.

Contents

Taxonomy

The lichen was first described with the name Lichen conspersus in 1799 by lichenologist Erik Acharius. [2] In its taxonomic history, it has been transferred to the genera Imbricaria, Lobaria , and Parmelia . [1] It became known as a species of Xanthoparmelia when Mason Hale promoted that subgenus of Parmelia to generic status in 1974. [3]

It is commonly known as the "peppered rock-shield". [4]

Description

Xanthoparmelia conspersa has a thallus that is either tightly or loosely attached to its substrate. The thallus, which measures 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in), is made of narrow lobes that are 1–3 mm wide, which are crowded and usually overlapping. The thallus upper surface often features isidia that range in shape from spherical to branched cylinders. The lower surface of the thallus is black, except for near the lobe tips, where it may be pale to dark brown. [4] Rhizines are coarse, black, and simple (i.e., unbranched), with a length of 0.5–1 mm. Ascospores are 5–6 by 9–10  μm. [5]

Some secondary metabolites found in Xanthoparmelia conspersa include usnic acid, hyposalazinic acid, stictic and norstictic acid. [6]

Habitat and distribution

Xanthoparmelia conspersa grows on rocks (on siliceous rocks, particularly granite), and is typically found in sunny habitats. [4] It has been recorded from Asia (Japan), Europe, Africa, North America, and South America. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

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.

<i>Pseudevernia</i> Genus of lichens

Pseudevernia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. The type species of the genus, Pseudevernia furfuracea, has substantial commercial value in the perfume industry.

<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>Punctelia</i> Genus of lichen

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.

<i>Xanthoparmelia</i> Genus of fungi

Xanthoparmelia is a genus of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Xanthoparmelia is synonymous with Almbornia, Neofuscelia, Chondropsis, Namakwa, Paraparmelia, and Xanthomaculina. This genus of lichen is commonly found in the United States, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Ecuador.

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.

Psiloparmelia is a genus of lichen belonging to the family Parmeliaceae. It contains 13 Southern Hemisphere species, most of which are found growing on rocks at high elevations in South America. There are several characteristic features of the genus that are used to distinguish it from the morphologically similar genera, such as Arctoparmelia, Flavoparmelia, and Xanthoparmelia. These include a dark, velvety lower thallus surface that usually lacks rhizines, a negative test for lichenan, and a high concentration of usnic acid and atranorin in the cortex.

<i>Xanthoparmelia mougeotii</i> Species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae

Xanthoparmelia mougeotii is a species of foliose lichen belonging to the family Parmeliaceae.

Xanthoparmelia maricopensis, the Maricopa rock-shield, is a 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) wide, yellow-green foliose lichen in the Parmeliaceae family. It grows on igneous rock in southwestern North American deserts.

<i>Xanthoparmelia mexicana</i> Species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae

Xanthoparmelia mexicana, commonly known as the salted rock-shield, is a foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It grows in 4–10 cm diameter rosettes of gray-green to yellow-green lobes in arid climates all over the world.

Arctoparmelia separata, commonly known as the rippled ring lichen, is a species of foliose, ring lichen in the family Parmeliaceae with a roughly circumpolar distribution.

<i>Parmotrema rampoddense</i> Species of lichen

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.

<i>Parmotrema arnoldii</i> Species of lichen

Parmotrema arnoldii, commonly known as the powdered ruffle lichen, is a widely distributed species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It has been recorded from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, Macaronesia, and North and South America.

<i>Xanthoparmelia lineola</i> Species of foliose lichen

Xanthoparmelia lineola, commonly known as the tight rock-shield, is a foliose lichen species in the genus Xanthoparmelia. It is a common species with a temperate distribution. Found in North America and South Africa, it grows on rocks.

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.

<i>Punctelia rudecta</i> Species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae

Punctelia rudecta, commonly known as the rough speckled shield or the speckleback lichen, is a North American species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. This species can be readily identified by the light color of the thallus underside, the relatively large lobes at the edges of the thallus, and the tiny white pores present on the top of the thallus that are characteristic of the genus Punctelia. The lichen is quite abundant and widespread in the eastern and southeastern United States, although it also occurs in Canada and northern Mexico, but is less common in these regions. The lichen usually grows on bark, and less commonly on shaded rocks. There are several lookalike Punctelia species; these can often be distinguished from P. rudecta by differences in distribution or in the nature of the reproductive structures present on the thallus.

Xanthoparmelia serusiauxii is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in Namibia, it was formally described as a new species in 1986 by American lichenologist Mason Hale. The type specimen was collected by Hale from the Laguneberg Mountains, southeast of Cape Cross. There, it is common on dolerite boulders and small, flat pebbles. The specific epithet honours Emmanuël Sérusiaux, who, according to Hale, "was the first lichenologist to collect this unusual lichen in Namibia".

<i>Punctelia hypoleucites</i> Species of foliose lichen

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.

<i>Punctelia borreri</i> Species of lichen

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.

<i>Hypotrachyna osseoalba</i> Species of lichen

Hypotrachyna osseoalba, commonly known as the grainy loop lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is widely distributed in subtropical and temperate areas of the world. Characteristic features of the lichen include the pustules in its cortex, the somewhat linear shape of the lobes comprising the thallus, and the branched rhizines.

References

  1. 1 2 "Xanthoparmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex Ach.) Hale". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  2. Acharius, Erik (1799). Lichenographiae Sueciae Prodromus (in Latin). p. 118.
  3. Hale, Mason E. (1974). "Bulbothrix, Parmelina, Relicina, Xanthoparmelia, four new genera in the Parmeliaceae (Lichenes)". Phytologia. 28 (5): 479–490.
  4. 1 2 3 Brodo, Irwin M.; Sharnoff, Sylvia Duran; Sharnoff, Stephen (2001). Lichens of North America. Yale University Press. p. 735. ISBN   978-0300082494.
  5. 1 2 Hale, Mason (1990). A Synopsis of the Lichen Genus Xanthoparmelia (Vainio Hale (Ascomycotina, Parmeliaceae). pp. 91–93.
  6. Łaska, G.; Kiercul, S. (2014). "Pharmacological activity of secondary metabolites isolated from Xanthoparmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex Ach.) Hale lichen". Planta Medica. 80 (10): PS4. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382747.