''Gowardia arctica'' is a species of

terricolous A terricolous lichen is a lichen that grows on the soil as a substrate. Examples include some members of the genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classificati ...

(ground-dwelling),

fruticose A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy lichen growth forms, growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteri ...

(bushy)

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

in the family

Parmeliaceae The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2700 species in 71 genera, it is the largest family of lichen-forming fungi. The most speciose genera in the family are the well-known groups: '' Xanthoparmelia'' ( 82 ...

. Found in arctic regions of

Northern Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, terr ...

and Russia, it was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

as a new species in 2009 by Pekka Halonen, Leena Myllys, Saara Velmala, and Heini Hyvärinen. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was collected from Banks Island in Swan Lake (

Inuvialuit The Inuvialuit (sing. Inuvialuk; ''the real people'') or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homelan ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

); here, at an elevation of , it was found growing among mesic mountain

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

. It also occurs along the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

coast (and associated islands) of Russia. The lichen is richly branched, black to black-brown in colour (regions close to the base may be lighter), and reaches up to in diameter. It contains alectorialic acid and two other unknown

lichen product Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deri ...

References

Parmeliaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 2009 Lichens of Subarctic America Lichens of Eastern Europe Lichens of the Arctic Fungi without expected TNC conservation status Taxa named by Leena Myllys {{Parmeliaceae-stub