Vermilacinia nylanderi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Ramalinaceae
Genus: Vermilacinia
Species:
V. nylanderi
Binomial name
Vermilacinia nylanderi
Spjut (1996)

Vermilacinia nylanderi is a fruticose lichen that grows on branches of shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America in the Channel Islands and in Baja California from near El Rosario south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula [1] The epithet honors William Nylander who published a monograph on the related genus Ramalina in 1870.[2]

Distinguishing Features

Vermilacinia nylanderi is classified in the subgenus Cylindricaria in which it is distinguished from related species by the thallus divided into numerous narrow tubular rugose branches, by the abundant fertile pycnidia,[3] and by lichen substances of zeorin and (-)-16-hydroxykaurane, occasionally with unknowns. The species is similar to V. corrugata which lacks (-)-16-hydroxykaurane.[1] Vermilacinia leopardina, which has the same lichen substances, differs in its shiny cortex and sterile pycnidia that appear as irregularly shaped black spots and regularly shaped transverse bands.

Pycnidia in Vermilacinia nylanderi are not always conspicuous, especially in the field, because they are often immersed in the cortex. They are nevertheless evident by the bump-like elevated areas along the cortical surface. Their abundance is conspicuous when the thallus is sectioned and examined under a dissecting microscope. Pycnidia in V. nylanderi are abundantly fertile as seen by conidia (conidium singular), which “are specialized, non-motile fungal spores,” that appear to function as re-establishing the lichen with an “appropriate photobiont,” a form of asexual reproduction,[4] in contrast to “sterile pycnidia (conidia not evident) in V. leopardina. Conidia may also to function as “male gametes (spermatia)”[5]

Vermilacinia nylanderi was first recognized by color changes in the thallus after its collection in the field, initially appearing pinkish on apical lobes, then yellow orange and then gradually turning brown within a few years.[1] The species appears most common on the Vizcaíno Peninsula along the southern coast region. Vermilacinia howei, which is similar to V. leopardina in the irregular black banding on thallus branches, occurs further away from the coast on the Vizcaíno Peninsula. Their morphological-chemical differences appear ecologically the reverse of the relationship between V. leopardina and V. corrugata on the northern peninsula.[1]

Taxonomic History

Vermilacinia nylanderi was described in 1996,[1] but also has been perceived to be a synonym (taxonomy) under an extremely broad species and genus concept; one that essentially combines all species of Vermilacinia that grow on trees and shrubs, including two sorediate species, under one species name, Niebla ceruchis,[6] an epithet that is based on a type (biology) specimen for a species interpreted to grow on earth in South America, recognized as Vermilacinia ceruchis, one that is also endemic to South America.[7] The listing of seven different species names under “Niebla ceruchis” that includes V. nylanderi, for example as one synonym of the seven synonyms does not mean that they are equal to N. ceruchis, as sometimes indicated on web sites and in literature,[8] especially when the listing of synonyms provide no scientific basis for reaching such a conclusion, and when the species already had been substantiated as distinct by their differences in morphology, chemistry, ecology, and geography.[1]

The genus Vermilacinia is distinguished from Niebla by the absence of chondroid strands in the medulla,[9] and by the major lichen substance predominantly of terpenes.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spjut, R. W. 1996. Niebla and Vermilacinia (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida
  2. ↑ Nylander W. 1870. Recognitio monographica Ramalinarum. Bull. Soc. Linn. Normandie, Sr. 2, 4:101–181.
  3. ↑ Pycnidium (pycnidia plural) is a small flash-shaped structure (200–300 µm wide near the base) that produces conidia, which escape through an opening (ostiole) at the top and function in reproduction, asexually or sexually
  4. ↑ Bungartz, F. 2002. Morphology and anatomy of conidia-producing structures, Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 1: 35–40
  5. ↑ Sanders, W. B. 2014. Complete life cycle of the lichen fungus Calopadia puiggarii (Pilocarpaceae, Ascomycetes) documented in situ: Propagule dispersal, establishment of symbiosis, thallus development, and formation of sexual and asexual reproductive structures. Am. J. Bot. , online ahead of print, 30 Oct 2014
  6. ↑ Bowler, P. and J. Marsh. 2004. Niebla. ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert' 2: 368–380
  7. 1 2 Spjut R. W. 1995. Vermilacinia (Ramalinaceae, Lecanorales), a new genus of lichens. In: Flechten Follmann; Contr. Lichen in honor of Gerhard Follmann; F. J. A. Daniels, M. Schulz & J. Peine, eds., Koeltz Scientific Books: Koenigstein, pp. 337-351.
  8. ↑ Enlichenment, “Niebla ceruchis”, three images, Palos Verdes Bluffs, Bluff Cove; top image shows thallus with lobes enlarged terminally, a characteristic feature of Vermilacinia cerebra, the lower two images show yellow green thalli with soralia, characteristic traits of Vermilacinia zebrina; these names are not synonymous as may be envisioned in the Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 2: 372 (2004), while one may also continue to debate whether they represent two different species, or just one species; accessed 6 December 2014; http://www.waysofenlichenment.net/lichens/Niebla%20ceruchis.
  9. ↑ Chondroid strands in the genus Niebla appear as tiny threads or cords running lengthwise in the medulla, interconnected diagonally or crosswise by other freely branched solitary hyphal cells. There are usually many such cords in the Niebla medulla. The medulla of Vermilacinia subgenus Cylindricaria has long flexible hyphal cells united at frequent intervals into knots. They are referred to as fascicles of hyphal cells. There are many such fascicles in a single medulla. It appears that when a thallus takes in moisture, the hyphal cells bend outwards, and as they dry they come together. Medulla hyphae in a herbarium specimen may lose elasticity over time, and all the fascicles may appear as a single cord
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