Niebla suffnessii
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| Niebla suffnessii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ramalinaceae |
| Genus: | Niebla |
| Species: | N. suffnessii |
| Binomial name | |
| Niebla suffnessii Spjut (1996) | |
Niebla suffnessii is a fruticose lichen that grows on rocks along the foggy Pacific Coast of North America within the Vizcaíno Desert region of Baja California.[1] The epithet, suffnessii, is in honor of Matthew Suffness[2] who was Chief of the Natural Products Branch in the National Cancer Institute during the late 1970s to mid 1980s, and later a coordinator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) contracts for the drug discovery groups, and who also encouraged the screening of lichens and bryophytes in the search for new anticancer drugs.[3]
Niebla suffnessii is distinguished by a thallus divided into yellowish green subtubular branches from a pale reddish orange pigmented holdfast; the branches inflated near base in the typical form, generally linear in outline,[4] to 8 cm long and 1–4 mm wide, frequently dichotomously or trichotomously divided from near base, the branches ultimately long and whip-like. The species (N. suffnessii) is further distinguished by the relatively thin cortex, 35–75(-100) μm thick, which is typically smooth with longitudinal ridges coinciding with the branch margins, occasionally twisting up the branch, appearing more prominently reticulate on terminal branches, or in other thalli, the cortical ridges conspicuous from near base. The latter may represent hybrids with Niebla siphonoloba[5] on mesa above Arroyo San Andrés and north of Punta Canoas on Mesa Camacho. The species (N. siphonoloba) also distinguished by containing the lichen substance sekikaic acid, with triterepenes[1] Similar species are Niebla turgida that has divaricatic acid instead of sekikaic acid, and Niebla fimbriata that differs by the dark green thicker cortex, 100–150(-200) μm thick, and by the one-sided development of secondary branches that easily break off where they attach to the primary branch.[1]