Pseudephebe pubescens

Last updated

Pseudephebe pubescens
Pseudephebe pubescens 2T89.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Parmeliaceae
Genus: Pseudephebe
Species:
P. pubescens
Binomial name
Pseudephebe pubescens
(L.) M.Choisy (1930)

Pseudephebe pubescens, also known as 'fine rock wool', is a temperate alpine lichen. [1] It is a member of the genus Pseudephebe , a lichen group characterized by dense mats of brown to near-black "hairs". [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Linnaeus first described Lichen pubescens in 1753. [1] Maurice Choisy transferred it to the genus Pseudephebe in 1930. It is usually distinguished from P. minuscula due to P. pubescens preferring a moister habitat, and its branches are more terete and lack the irregularities of P. minuscula. [2] The morphological and ecological differences between the two species are often overlapping, and it can be difficult to truly distinguish the two without molecular analysis. [3] [4]

Description

Pseudephebe pubescens is a fruticose lichen that forms decumbent mats made of isotomic-dichotomous branching thalli. The branching occurs frequently and weaves around itself, leading to the woolen appearance. Dark brown to black in color and shiny. [5] Apothecia are rare, but are rarely greater than 6 mm in diameter and have the same appearance as the rest of the thallus. [6] The species lacks isidia, soredia, and pseudocyphellae. [3] Pycnidia occur in great numbers on tubercles with conspicuous ostioles. It is not known to produce any secondary metabolites. [7]

Habitat and distribution

Pseudephebe pubescens is found specifically on acidic or silicate rocks in temperate-alpine or sub-arctic regions. [1] It has circumpolar sightings, being found from the Canadian territories, throughout the United States, and sometimes in alpine Mexico. [1] It has been known in Europe, but recently discovered in China [4] and even been found in the Andes and in Australia. [8] It has been known to grow upon wood occasionally. Pseudephebe pubescens tends to be in more temperate environments than P. minuscula.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cladoniaceae</span> Family of fungi

The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (Cladonia) belong to this family. The latter genus, which comprises about 500 species, forms a major part of the diet of large mammals in taiga and tundra ecosystems. Many Cladoniaceae lichens grow on soil, but other can use decaying wood, tree trunks, and, in a few instances, rocks as their substrate. They grow in places with high humidity, and cannot tolerate aridity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parmeliaceae</span> Family of lichens

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.

<i>Veronica</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae

Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species. It was formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae. Common names include speedwell, bird's eye, and gypsyweed.

<i>Physcia stellaris</i> Species of lichen

Physcia stellaris is a species of lichen. It is pale grey, but darker in the centre, and lacks isidia, lobules, soredia and pruina.It tests positive K+ yellow upper cortex with a 10% potassium hydroxide solution. In North America, it is known colloquially as the fringed rosette lichen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lecanoraceae</span> Family of lichen-forming fungi

The Lecanoraceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. Species of this family have a widespread distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baeomycetales</span> Order of fungi

The Baeomycetales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the subclass Ostropomycetidae, in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains 8 families, 33 genera and about 170 species. As a result of molecular phylogenetics research published in the late 2010s, several orders were folded into the Baeomycetales, resulting in a substantial increase in the number of taxa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verrucariaceae</span> Family of mostly lichenised fungi

Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on land, some in freshwater and a few in the sea. Many are free-living but there are some species that are parasites on other lichens, while one marine species always lives together with a leafy green alga.

<i>Pseudephebe</i> Genus of fungi

Pseudephebe is a genus of fruticose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains three species that grow on rocks.

<i>Melanohalea</i> Genus of lichen

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.

<i>Calvitimela</i> Genus of lichen

Calvitimela is a lichen genus in the family Tephromelataceae. Members of the family Tephromelataceae are crustose lichens with green photobionts and lecideine or lecanorine apothecia. The species in Calvitimela have lecideine apothecia, are saxicolous and are primarily found in alpine to arctic regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caliciaceae</span> Family of lichen-forming fungi

The Caliciaceae are a family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. Although the family has had its classification changed several times throughout its taxonomic history, the use of modern molecular phylogenetic methods have helped to establish its current placement in the order Caliciales. Caliciaceae contains 36 genera and about 600 species. The largest genus is Buellia, with around 300 species; there are more than a dozen genera that contain only a single species.

<i>Bryoria</i> Genus of fungi

Bryoria is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. Many members of this genus are known as horsehair lichens. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in boreal and cool temperate areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruticose lichen</span> Form of lichen

A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or more mycobionts. Fruticose lichens are not a monophyletic and holophyletic lineage, but is a form encountered in many classes. Fruticose lichens have a complex vegetation structure, and are characterized by an ascending, bushy or pendulous appearance. As with other lichens, many fruticose lichens can endure high degrees of desiccation. They grow slowly and often occur in habitats such as on tree barks, on rock surfaces and on soils in the Arctic and mountain regions.

<i>Pseudephebe minuscula</i> Species of lichen

Pseudephebe minuscula is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. In North America, it is known colloquially as coarse rockwool. It has an antitropical distribution.

<i>Parmelia barrenoae</i> Species of lichen

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massalongiaceae</span> Genus of lichens

Massalongiaceae is a small family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Peltigerales. It has three genera and seven species.

Gallowayella aphrodites is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), foliose (leafy) lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in the Mediterranean countries Greece, Cyprus, and Italy. Characteristics of the lichen include its small thallus, the disposition of the rhizines on the thallus undersurface, and the lack of vegetative propagules.

Helocarpaceae is a family of lichen-forming fungi in the subclass Lecanoromycetidae. The family is monotypic, and contains the single genus Helocarpon.

Candelaria asiatica is a lichenized species of fungus in the genus Candelaria, family Candelariaceae. Recognized by its small yellow lobate thallus, this species is found growing under open areas in forests. It is distributed in South Asia, Pakistan, and China.

<i>Usnea sphacelata</i> Species of lichen

Usnea sphacelata is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), fruticose lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It is found in both polar regions of Earth, as well as in southern and northern South America and in New Zealand.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Goward, Trevor (1999). The lichens of British Columbia: Illustrated Keys. Victoria, B.C.: Ministry of Forests, Research Program. ISBN   0-7726-2194-2. OCLC   31651418.
  2. "Flora of New Zealand: Taxa". floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  3. 1 2 Boluda, Carlos G.; Hawksworth, David L.; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Crespo, Ana; Rico, Víctor J. (2016). "Microchemical and molecular investigations reveal Pseudephebe species as cryptic with an environmentally modified morphology". The Lichenologist. 48 (5): 527–543. doi:10.1017/S0024282916000426.
  4. 1 2 Wang, Li-Song; McCune, Bruce (2010). "Contributions to the lichen flora of the Hengduan Mountains, China 1. Genus Pseudephebe (lichenized Ascomycota, Parmeliaceae)". Mycotaxon. 113 (1): 431–437. doi: 10.5248/113.431 .
  5. "Pseudephebe pubescens (L.) M.Choisy : LichenIreland". www.habitas.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  6. LaGreca, Scott (2002). "Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region". The Bryologist. 111 (3): 519–521. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2008)111[517:arlfic]2.0.co;2.
  7. Martellos, P. L. Nimis, S. "Pseudephebe pubescens (L.) M. Choisy". italic.units.it. Retrieved 2023-05-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "Consortium of Lichen Herbaria - Pseudephebe pubescens". lichenportal.org. Retrieved 2023-05-07.