Niebla flagelliforma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Niebla flagelliforma | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ramalinaceae |
| Genus: | Niebla |
| Species: | N. flagelliforma |
| Binomial name | |
| Niebla flagelliforma Spjut (1996) | |
Niebla flagelliforma is a fruticose lichen that grows on rocks along the foggy Pacific Coast of Baja California mostly in the Northern Vizcaíno Desert.[1] The epithet, flagelliforma is in reference to the individual branches of the thallus shaped like a flagellum.
Niebla flagelliforma is easily recognized by a thallus—up to 6 cm high and 3 cm across—divided from a holdfast into narrow erect branches that terminate—after branching one or more times—in flagelliform branchlets. The cortex of the thallus, which covers a partially hollow medulla, has conspicuous and closely reticulate ridges, often cracking along the transverse ridges, and becomes thinner towards apex, 75–25 μm thick. This thinning of the cortex and the development of a subfistulose medulla probably relates to the coiling of the branches. Black dot-like pycnidia are abundant on the flagelliform branchlets, each pycnidium[2] is surrounded by a cortical margin similar to the thalline margin of an apothecium. The key lichen substance is divaricatic acid (with triterpenes and usnic acid).[1]
Niebla flagelliforma is frequent in wind-sheltered areas inland from the coast on the northern peninsula of Baja California, generally south of Campo Nuevo, but also occurs around Bahía de San Quintín and nearby Isla San Martín.[1][3]