Lichens of Bouverie Preserve

 Thallus: continuous to fissured, with thin to moderately thick verrucae; margin: definite, often zonate; upper surface: whitish gray to greenish gray, margins entire to weakly zoned, epruinose; soredia: farinose, restricted to verrucae or coalescing and spreading onto ruptured thallus surface; Apothecia: no fertile specimens seen; Pycnidia: not seen; Spot tests: K- or K+ yellow to red, C-, KC+ rose-violet, P- or + yellow to red, UV-; Secondary metabolites: picrolichenic and ± protocetraric acids (both major); ± conprotocetraric and subpicrolichenic acid (both minor).; Substrate and ecology: on deciduous trees, such as Aesculus, Quercus or conifers, and also occasionally on siliceous rocks in shady places; World distribution: widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere; Sonoran distribution: in coastal areas of southern California and Baja California and scattered in inland mountains up to 1800 m in Arizona and Chihuahua.; Notes: Pertusaria amara is characterized by small, but coalescing soralia with farinose soredia, a relatively thin, grayish thallus and the presence of the picrolichenic acid chemosyndrome and thus a bitter taste. It is hardly confused with any other Pertusaria species occurring in western North America, except P. albescens. The distinction of both species is discussed above.  less ↑

 Thallus: rimose-to verrucose-areolate; areoles: 0.2-0.6 mm in diam., plane to subconvex, thin or thick; upper surface: white or whitish gray, rough; shiny or dull, scarcely or abundantly grayish or whitish pruinose; Ascomata: urceolate, sessile, slightly pruinose, up to 1.8 mm in diam.; disc: blackish, concave; proper exciple: up to 70 µm thick; hymenium: 80-120 µm high; asci: subclavate to cylindrical, 4-spored; ascospores: brown, muriform, ellipsoid, 18-32 x 6-15 µm; transverse septa 4-6, longitudinal septa 1-2 per transverse segment; Pycnidia: not seen; Spot tests: K+ yellow to red, C+ red, KC-, P-, UV-; Secondary metabolites: diploschistesic and lecanoric acids (both major) and orsellinic acid (minor).; Substrate and ecology: on soil or mosses, juvenile parasitic on Cladonia spp; World distribution: cosmopolitan in relatively open habitats in Mediterranean, temperate and polar regions and extending to high altitudes in the tropics; Sonoran distribution: common, occurs in the studied area at an elevation of c. 250-4100 m in Arizona, Baja California, California and Chihuahua.; Notes: The terricolous or muscicolous Diploschistes muscorum can be identified by the combination of 4-spored asci, juvenile parasitism, and the presence of lecanoric and diploschistesic acids. Similar species include D. diacapsis (distinction see under that species) and D. scruposus. The latter species is a saxicolous and is not lichenicolous. It has an epruinose thallus, (4-) 8-spored asci, and may or may not contain diploschistesic acid.  less ↑