Vermilacinia flaccescens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Ramalinaceae
Genus: Vermilacinia
Species:
V. flaccescens
Binomial name
Vermilacinia flaccescens
(Nyl.) Spjut & Hale (1995)
Synonyms
  • Ramalina flaccescens Nyl. (1870)
  • Niebla flaccescens (Nyl.) Rundel & Bowler (1978)

Vermilacinia flaccescens is a fruticose lichen that grows on cacti and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of South America, Peru, Chile and in the Juan Fernandez Islands[1] The epithet is in reference to the flaccid thallus but some specimens have been interpreted to have rigid branches.

Distinguishing Features

Vermilacinia flaccescens is classified in the subgenus Cylindricaria in which it is distinguished from related species by the thallus divided into long subcylindrical branches and by containing the lichen substance methyl 3,5 dichlorolecanorate, with or without zeorin and/or (-)-16 α-hydroxykaurane.[1]

Taxonomic History

Vermilacinia flaccescens was first described by William Nylander in 1870 as a species of Ramalina.[2] It was transferred to the genus Desmazieria in 1969,[3] to Niebla in 1978,[4] and to Vermilacinia in 1995.[5] R. Heber Howe, Jr. in 1913[6] indicated that a specimen collected by Edward Palmer at San Diego might belong to V. flaccescens; however, his reference to Nylander’s description of the “lacunose” branches indicates it was probably V. corrugata as further supported by study of a specimen labeled Palmer 269b at the United States National Herbarium, Smithsonian Institution.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. ↑ Follmann, G.and S. Huneck. 1969. Mitteilunge uber Flechteninhaltsstoffe. LXI. Zur Chemotaxonomie der Flechtenfamilie Ramalinaceae. Willdenowia 5:181-216.
  4. ↑ Rundel, P. and P. Bowler. 1978. Niebla, a new generic name for the lichen genus Desmazieria (Ramalinaceae). Mycotaxon 6: 497–499
  5. ↑ 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
  6. ↑ Howe, R.H., Jr. 1913. North American species of the genus Ramalina. The Bryologist 16: 65–74.
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