Letharia Vulpina
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''Letharia vulpina'', commonly known as the wolf lichen (although the species name ''vulpina'', from ''vulpine'' relates to the
fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
), is a
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 ...
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 ...
ized species of fungus 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 ...
. It is bright yellow-green, shrubby and highly branched, and grows on the bark of living and dead
conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
s in parts of western and continental Europe and the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains of North America. This species is somewhat toxic to mammals due to the yellow pigment vulpinic acid, and has been used historically as a poison for wolves and foxes. It has also been used traditionally by many native North American ethnic groups as a pigment source for dyes and paints.


Taxonomy

The lichen was first
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 ...
in 1753 by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
. He classified it as a member of the eponymous genus ''Lichen'', which was standard practice at the time. Auguste-Marie Hue transferred it to the genus '' Letharia'' in 1899.


Description

The
thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...
, or vegetative body, has a fruticose shape — that is, shrubby and densely branched — and a bright yellow to yellow-green, or
chartreuse Chartreuse () may refer to: Common meanings * Chartreuse (liqueur), a French liqueur * Chartreuse (color), a yellow-green color named after the liqueur * Grande Chartreuse, the original Carthusian monastery Other uses * Chartreuse (dish), a ...
color, although the color will fade in drier specimens. Its dimensions are typically in diameter. The vegetative reproductive structures
soredia Soredia are common reproduction, reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens asexual reproduction, reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungus, fung ...
and
isidia An isidium (plural: isidia) is a tiny, wart- or finger-like outgrowth on the thallus surface of certain lichen species. It is one of two principal types of vegetative reproduction, vegetative reproductive structures in lichens, the other being ...
are present on the surface of the thalli, often abundantly. left, Closeup showing dense covering of vegetative reproductive structures.


Physiology

Like most lichens, ''L. vulpina'' is highly tolerant of freezing and low temperatures. In one set of experiments, the lichen was able to reactivate its metabolism after 15 hours of cold storage and resume
photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...
within 12 minutes of thawing. It was also able to start photosynthesis while rewarming, still at below-zero temperatures (°C), suggesting that it may remain active during winter.Kallio P, Heinonen S. (1971). "Influence of short-term low temperature on net photosynthesis in some subarctic lichens." ''Reports of the Kevo Subarctic Research Station ''8:63–72.


Distribution and habitat

''Letharia vulpina'' occurs throughout the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
. It is often abundant on exposed branches that have lost their bark. In old, moist forests, it is typically found in drier areas. This species has an intermediate air pollution sensitivity. In the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
, ''Letharia'' species are found in ponderosa forests at the prairie-forest boundary at relatively low elevations though medium and high elevation Douglas fir and lodgepole pine forests.


Uses

Some
Plateau Indian Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are Indigenous peoples of the Interior of British Columbi ...
tribes used wolf lichen as a poultice for swelling, bruises, sores, and boils, and boiled it as a drink to stop
bleeding Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethr ...
. The brightly coloured fruiting bodies are popular in floral arrangements.


Dyeing

The Klamath Indians in California soaked porcupine quills in a chartreuse-colored extract of ''Letharia vulpina'' that dyed them yellow; the quills were woven into the basket patterns. Vulpinic acid, poisonous dye in ''L. vulpina''.


Poison

The use of this species for poisoning wolves and foxes goes back at least hundreds of years, based on the mention of the practice in Christoph Gedner's "Of the use of curiosity", collected in
Benjamin Stillingfleet Benjamin Stillingfleet (1702–1771) was an English botanist, polymath, and author. Life Benjamin Stillingfleet was born in 1702 in Wood Norton, Norfolk to Mary Ann and Edward Stillingfleet. He was one of four children, and the only son.I. ...
, ''Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Natural History, Husbandry and Physics'' (London, 1759). According to British lichenologist Annie Lorrain Smith, reindeer carcasses were stuffed with lichen and powdered glass, and suggests that the sharp edges of the glass would make the animals' internal organs more susceptible to the effects of the lichen poison. However, it is known that the lichen itself is also effective—powdered lichen added to fat and inserted into reindeer carcasses will also be fatal to wolves that consume it. The toxic chemical is the yellow dye vulpinic acid, which is poisonous to all meat-eaters, but not to mice and rabbits.


Similar species

The closely related ''Letharia columbiana'' lacks isidia and soredia, usually bearing instead apothecia. It is also less branched than ''L. vulpina''.


References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2164660 Parmeliaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Lichens of North America Plant dyes