#arctoparmelia

[lichenaday]

Arctoparmelia separata

Rippled ring lichen

I am familiar with a lot of Arctic lichens because of the time I have spent in Iceland, but obviously the Arctic is A LOT bigger than Iceland, and so there are plenty of Arctic lichens I have yet to meet--including our friend A. separata here. This foliose lichen grows loosely attached to rock, moss, and humic soils in Arctic-Boreal regions of North America, eastern Russia, Japan, and Greenland. It appears to skip over western Europe and Iceland entirely. It has elongated, branching lobes with a pale yellow and brown spotted upper surface and a gray to black lower surface. It has clustered apothecia which have brown, concave discs and surrounded by undulating margins. A. separata is divided into 2 different chemotypes (growth forms that differ in the chemicals they produce) between North American and and Asian/Russian populations, likely as an adaptation to different environmental conditions, though more work is needed to understand the roles these secondary metabolites play.

images: source | source | source | source

info: source | source | source

[lichenaday]

Arctoparmelia subcentrifuga

Subcentric ring lichen

Guys, I am really into crypto these days--crypto-gams, that is! Cryptogams are organisms which reproduce via spores, not flowers and seeds. Literally the name means "hidden reproduction," and since the mycobiomes of lichens reproduce via tiny little spores that are yeah, pretty damn hidden, they fall into the category of cryptogams! The algal and cyanobacterial photobionts of lichens are also cryptogams, so lichens are like, the MOST cryptogam organisms, if you think about. Anyway, here is a delightful little crypto-pal for you to admire today, A. subcentrifuga. This foliose lichen has long, convex lobes which grow in concentric, incomplete rings. The upper surface is pale yellow-green or gray in color with a network of thin cracks running throughout. In older areas of the thallus (toward the center of the ring) these cracks widen and become pustule-like soralia which produce coarse soredia. Oddly, the descriptions of these lichens I can find online don't mention it producing apothecia (the fruiting bodies which produce the sexual spores of the mycobiont), but one of the pictures I have here clearly shows apothecia? IDK, cryptogams are gonna be cryptic, I guess. They has a reputation to maintain. A. subcentirfuga grows on talus, boulders and cliff-faces in montane, alpine, and arctic regions of North America, northern South America, and Scandinavia. Can I say it's a cryptid? Probably not without confusing people, but I will do so in my heart.

images: source | source

info: source | source | source

[lovecraftsgarden]

Arctoparmelia centrifuga

Concentric-Ring Lichen

(via)