''Vermilacinia howei'' is a

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

that grows on trees and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America in the coastal scrub region of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

of California, and around Bahía de

San Quintín, Baja California is a city in San Quintín Municipality, Baja California, located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The city had a population of 4777 in 2011. San Quintín is an important agricultural center for Baja California. History In the early 1800s the ...

and further south in the Vizcaíno Desert.Spjut, R. W. 1996. ''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida The

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

honors

Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. Reginald Heber Howe, Jr. (April 10, 1875 – 28 January 1932) was an American naturalist and preparatory school science teacher. His research specialized in the lichens, birds, and dragonflies. He founded the Belmont Hill School and served as ...

for his contributions to lichenology, especially acknowledged for providing images of the

type (biology) In biology, a type is a particular 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 anchor or centralizes ...

specimens in his revision of the genus ''

Ramalina ''Ramalina'' is a genus of greenish fruticose lichens that grow in the form of flattened, strap-like branches. Members of the genus are commonly called strap lichensField Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 201 ...

''.

Distinguishing features

''Vermilacinia howei'' is classified in the subgenus ''Cylindricaria'' in which it is distinguished from related species by 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 ...

divided into tubular slightly inflated branches. The species is also one of two in the genus—within North America—that lacks the

diterpene Diterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of four isoprene units, often with the molecular formula C20H32. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate being a primary ...

, a diagnostic character trait that easily separates the species from most others in the genus. The triterpene

zeorin Zeorin is a triterpene with the molecular formula C30H52O2 which occurs in many lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, al ...

, which is also common in the genus, is usually present in trace amounts, while other lichen substances are not evident from

thin-layer chromatography Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatography technique that separates components in non-volatile mixtures. It is performed on a TLC plate made up of a non-reactive solid coated with a thin layer of adsorbent material. This is called the sta ...

(plates). Mature

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. As ...

(fruiting bodies) are usually present, in contrast to rarely being fully developed in ''V. cerebra''. ''Vermilacinia howei'' is similar to ''V. leopardina'' in possessing black bands, or large irregularly shaped black spots, on the branches, and in addition to differing by the absence of (-)-16-hydroxykaurane, it further differs by the relatively smaller thallus, the branches not more than 3 cm long. The

has short cylindrical branches that appear to have been inflated such as might occur by taking in moisture from fog and then deflated upon drying out. Another distinction is its dark green cortex and relatively large tea-cup shaped apothecia in proportion to the size of the branches. However, other thalli of the species are recognized to have uniformly slender branches that occasionally differ in containing zeorin in higher concentrations, but they still lack the diterpene (-)-16-hydroxykaurane. ''Vermilacinia howei'' occurs most frequently on the Vizcaíno Peninsula between Punta Eugenia and Bahía Tortugas, generally further inland from the ocean than ''V. nylanderi''. These two species have a reverse morphology and chemistry relationship to that of ''V. leopardina'' and ''V. corrugata''. This may have been the result of past geologic isolation of the Vizcaíno Peninsula from main peninsula.

Taxonomic History

''Vermilacinia howei'' was described in 1996, but also perceived to be a

synonym (taxonomy) In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The Botanical nomenclature, botanical and Zoological nomenclature, zoological codes of nomencl ...

under an extremely broad species and genus concept; one that essentially combines all species of ''Vermilacinia'' that grow on trees and shrubs, including two sorediate species, under one species name, ''Niebla ceruchis'',Bowler, P. and J. Marsh. 2004. ''Niebla''. ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert' 2: 368–380 an epithet that is based on a

specimen for a species interpreted to grow on earth in South America, recognized as ''Vermilacinia ceruchis'', one that is also endemic to South America.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. The listing of seven different species names under “''Niebla ceruchis''” that includes ''V. howei'', for example as one

synonym (biology) In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of the seven synonyms does not mean that they are equal to ''N. ceruchis'', as sometimes indicated on web sites and in literature, especially when the listing of synonyms provide no scientific basis for reaching such a conclusion, and when the species already had been substantiated as distinct by their differences in morphology, chemistry, ecology, and geography. The genus ''Vermilacinia'' is distinguished from ''Niebla'' by the absence of chondroid strands in the medulla,Chondroid strands in the genus ''Niebla'' appear as tiny threads or cords running lengthwise in the medulla, interconnected diagonally or crosswise by other freely branched solitary hyphal cells. There are usually many such cords in the ''Niebla'' medulla. The medulla of ''Vermilacinia'' subgenus ''Cylindricaria'' has long flexible hyphal cells united at frequent intervals into knots. They are referred to as fascicles of hyphal cells. There are many such fascicles in a single medulla. It appears that when a thallus takes in moisture, the hyphal cells bend outwards, and as they dry they come together. Medulla hyphae in a herbarium specimen may lose elasticity over time, and all the fascicles may appear as a single cord and by the major lichen substance predominantly of terpenes.

References

External links

*World Botanical Associates, Vermilacinia subgenus Vermilacinia, retrieved 5 Dec 2014, http://www.worldbotanical.com/vermilacinia_subgenus_vermilacin.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q20720334 Ramalinaceae Lichen species Lichens of North America Lichens described in 1996 Taxa named by Richard Wayne Spjut