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Most of us walk past lichen-covered rocks, splotched with grays, greens, and golds, without giving them a closer look. Ari Daniel Shapiro visits with mycologist Anne Pringle and graduate student Benjamin Wolfe to learn about these amazing symbiotic organisms, formed when a fungus partners with an algae. Each lichen can host an entire microcosm, a microbial landscape teeming with life. These worlds-within-worlds are proving an invaluable tool for scientists studying our changing landscapes. Umbilicaria. Photo Credit: Benjamin Wolfe
read moreDuration: 5:26Published: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:37:25 +0000
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Cladonia imperialisThis very attractive Cladonia is not uncommon in higher parts of the mountain ranges of SE Brazil. These seem to be close to C. calycantha, C. verticillata, C. rappii and C. cervicornis ssp verticillata (from the photos in the Brodo et al book). However, this species looks much more spectacular, with more numerous and more regular "branches" forming the cups.Cladonia imperialis Ahti & Marcelli, Bibl. Lichenol. 58: 19. 1995. Type: Brazil. Minas Gerais, Mun. Itamonte, Parque Nacional de Itatiaia, km 7 on highway to Agulhas Negras, 1993 M.P. Marcelli, T. Ahti & O. Yano 28055 (SP, holotype; B, CANB, FH, H, NY, RB, isotypes).Patricia will verify this identification with Dr Marcelli (one of the authors who described the species C. imperialis) in the next few days. It certainly looks very like the specimen in the virtual herbarium at NYBG - search at [http://sciweb.nybg.org/Science2/vii2.asp] (bearing in mind that the photo here is of live material while the NYGB image is of a dried, somewhat compressed specimen).Patrícia Jungbluth has just confirmed with Marcelo Marcelli that this is Cladonia imperialis. She also informed me that this lichen has also been found in Serra do Caparaó and the Serra do Cipó, so all of the known occurrences are in SE Brazil. For the moment, I believe it's the only (identified??) image of the live organism in the field, though that may very soon change since Patricia will be visiting Itatiaia soon and will attempt to take some more photos.
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Northland, Cavalli Islands, 2.5 m depth, Plate 7 in Hayward, B.W., Grenfell, H.R., Reid, C.M., Hayward, K.A. 1999. Recent New Zealand shallow-water benthic Foraminifera: Taxonomy, ecologic distribution, biogeography, and use in paleoenvironmental assessment. Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Monograph 21, 258 p.
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Sidebottom H. 1912. Lagenae of the South-West Pacific Ocean. From soundings taken by H.M.S. Waterwitch, 1895. Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (2) 11 (70): 375-434 , available online at
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/15550#page/5/ page(s): p. 401 pl. 17 fig. 10
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Zaragoza: Aragn (Espaa)Pinares de Torrero (pino carrasco - Pinus halepensis-) repoblado.Sobre una piedra caliza.Familia: LecanoraceaeIdentificado en biodiversidadvirtual
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Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
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Photo taken Arnarhli, Eyjafjararsveit, Acarospora veronensis growing on rock.
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This foliose lichen at center/top seems to best resemble Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca (Sm.) Zopf. As with many/most species of non-vascular plants, this lichen doesn't seem to have a common name. Since "Chryso" means white or whitish (referring no doubt to the thallus), and "leuca" means gold (referring to no doubt to the apothecia which can be pale orange to bright orange or perhaps also to the well-defined rimmed, i.e. lecanorine, apothecia), I have coined a not terribly clever non-scientific name for it in the caption.At the center/bottom, there seems to be a second species of lichen with the one above sometimes poking through; note the greenish to light olive colored apothecia which aren't described for Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca and unless it is a developmental stage, the lichen below might be Rhizoplaca melanophthalma.A third, small, physiod lichen species is at center-right (and there are others, e.g. the yellowish specks).On the right side, the dessicated moss along as well as the one immediately to its right are Pterygoneurum ovatum. At the center-right is a bit of Syntrhicia ruralis.January 10, 2013, Salt Lake County foothills, Utah, approx. 4800 ft., growing on quartzite rock outcrops.
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Photographed at Lake St Clair, on the Platypus Bay and Larmairremener tabelti - Aboriginal Cultural Walks.This lichen was growing on a rock.
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Psora decipiensBlushing scaleDate: August 28. 2009Lat.: 46.43964 Long.: 13.64509Code: Bot_374/2009-2858Habitat: Dry upland grassland, open space, plain ground, full sun, fully exposed to precipitations, precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 0-2 deg C, elevation 1.960 m (6.400 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.Substratum: Shallow mossy soil covering calcareous rock.Place: Mangarts flats, west of Mt. Mangart, m (feet), East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia ECReferences:- F. Dobson, Lichens, The Richmond Publ. (2005), p372 - V.Wirth, Die Flechen Baden-Wuerttembergs, Ulmer, Vol. 1.and 2.(1995), p787.- I. Brodo, S.Sharnoff, S.Sharnoff, Lichens of North America, Yale Uni. Press (2001), p599.- V. Wirth, R.Duell, Farbatlas Flechten und Moose, Ulmer (2000), p116.Comments: Wirth considers this species as a rare one.
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Girraween National ParkLichenGIR_171028_F10_VRThis one is interesting as it has a pinkish blush in one area of its upper surface. The underside is the same sort of pinkish in places too.
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Xanthoria aureola (Ach.) Erichsen, Syn: Xanthoria ectaneoides (Nyl.) Zahlbr., Xanthoria parietina var. ectanea auct. brit, Parmelia aureola Ach., Physcia aureola (Ach.) Linds., Xanthoria parietina f. aureola (Ach.) P. Syd.EN: no name found, DE: no name found Slo.: no name found Dat.: June 19. 2010Lat.: 44.36963 Long.: 14.77644Code: Bot_431/2010_DSC3098 Habitat: dry stony wall delimiting (mostly) abandoned fields and deserted terraced olive groves; close to sea shore; almost flat terrain; calcareous, skeletal ground; dry place, full sun; exposed to direct rain, average precipitations ~ 900 mm/year, average temperature 12-14 deg C, elevations 35 m (110 feet), Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: vertical to steeply inclined surface of limestone rocks, west-southwest exposition.Place: Southwest of village Olib; next to the trail to Banjve bay; Island Olib; Kvarner bay, Adriatic Sea, Croatia EC. Comment: This was a beautiful and interesting find. The lichen is very conspicuous because of its deep orange color and considerable size. Several specimens were found in the vicinity. Also its taxonomy is interesting. After Smith (2009) it should be named Xanthoria aureola. However, this name has been long time used (and is still so by many) for another very similar specimen Xanthoria calcicola Oxner. Many (Ref.:2) would rather call them and also do so (Ref.:3) Xanthoria ectaneoides. They claim that the name Xanthoria aureola opposes the Article 57 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Other consider this species only as a 'kind of' very common Xanthoria parietina. The result is a considerable confusion in naming. Be that as it may Xanthoria calcicola differs from Xanthoria aureola by densely isidiate central part of the thallus (see Ref.: 7) and less strap-shaped and sparsely overlapping thallus terminal lobes (Smith 2009). Smith (2009) considers this species as Western European species and GBIF map confirms this by showing most of observations along west coasts from north Scandinavia to Canary Islands and with a few exceptions in Germany (a single specimen now in herbarium Berlin), on Crete and several finds in Italy (Ref.:6). Almost all finds are close to sea shores.What puzzles me with this observation is the center of the thallus on picture 2b, upper part. The thallus is 'bumpy' there and this bumps may eventually be interpreted as isidia. I am not sure. If so, this would not fit to Xanthoria aureola. Also, Smith lists ' siliceous or, rarely, basic rock ' as a most common substratum, while Dobson 2005 doesn't list siliceous rock as an option, but eventually allows basic rock. This find was surely found on calcareous, basic rock. The lichen was photographed in completely dry state. Unfortunately, no chemical tests and microscopy have been done.Ref.:(1) C.W.Smith, et all, The lichens of Great Britain and Ireland,The British Lichen Society,(2009), p 968.(2)
www.lichens.lastdragon.org/Xanthoria_aureola.html (accessed April 3. 2018) (3) F.S. Dobson, Lichens, The Richmonds Publishing Ca.LTD (2005), p 462.(4) V. Wirth, Die Flechten Baden-Wrttembergs, Teil.2., Ulmer (1995), p 974.(5)
www.gbif.org/species/2609974 (accessed April 3. 2018)(6)
dbiodbs.univ.trieste.it/italic/italic41 (accessed April 3. 2018)(7)
www.lichens.lastdragon.org/Xanthoria_calcicola.html (accessed April 4. 2018)
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Geneva, Florida, United States
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Christmas, Florida, United States
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Stewart, British Columbia, Canada
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Camerons Creek, New South Wales, Australia
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LichenGirraween National ParkGIR_171021_F01_CRI have no idea what kind of lichen this is.
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