Flavopunctelia
Flavopunctelia (Krog) Hale, 1984
| Common name | Speckled Greenshield Lichens |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Field Characters | Large, leafy, yellow chlorolichen. Thalli appressed to ruffled, forming up to hand-sized colonies. Lobes pale yellow, rounded, to 1.5 cm across. Upper cortex pale yellow, with punctiform pseudocyphellae. Soralia present, laminal and/or marginal. Lower cortex typically brown with sparse, simple rhizines. Apothecia rare, relatively large, on stipes, with brown disc and nubby yellow thalline margins (lecanorine). | |
| Similar species & genera |
Flavoparmelia caperata: lacks pseudocyephellae and has a PD+ red medulla.
Punctelia caseana: grey-green upper cortex and pale, tan, or pale brown lower cortex. Usnic-acid deficient shade forms of Flavopunctelia can closely resemble Punctelia. |
|
| Ecology | Epiphytic or on downed wood, both deciduous and coniferous, rarely on rock. In Alberta this genus is occasional in the boreal and parkland regions. It can be very abundant in urban naturalized parks (Haughland et al. 2022). | |
| Chemistry | Upper cortex KC+yellow, K- or K+ pale yellow, C-, PD-, UV- (usnic acid). Medulla C+ red, KC+ red, K-, PD-, UV- (lecanoric acid). | |
| Molecular support |
||
| Links |
Species recorded in Alberta: 2
- F. flaventior (Stirton) Hale Syns.: Parmelia flaventior, P. andreana, P. kernstockii, Punctelia flaventior (ABMI, ACIMS)
- F. soredica (Nyl.) Hale Syns.: Parmelia soredica, P. ulophyllodes, P. manshurica, Punctelia soredica (ABMI, ACIMS)
DICHOTOMOUS KEY
1a. Upper cortex K+ yellow, but KC- (no oily reaction, atranorin present), more grey than yellow; lower cortex pale with short, hair-like rhizines…..Grey foliose, likely Punctelia
1b. Upper cortex K-, KC+ yellow oily (usnic acid present)…..2
2a. Soredia present, upper surface with whitish pores (pseudocyphellae – may be very faint); medulla PD-…… 3
2b. Lacking pores (pseudocyphellae); soredia present or absent, but if present, entirely laminal; PD+ red or PD-….. 4
3a. Soredia marginal and/or laminal; pseudocyphellae obvious and up to 1 mm across, elongate and branched, developing into laminal soralia; frequent in low elevation riparian forest on both trees and rocks…..Flavopunctelia flaventior
3b. Soredia primarily marginal, in linear soralia on suberect crescent-shaped lobes (labriform soralia); upper surface often with faint white angular maculae visible with magnification, but pseudocyphellae may not be visible with naked eye and at most are punctiform; occasional in Edmonton…..Flavopunctelia soredica
4a. Lobes >2 mm broad, loosely appressed; medulla PD+ red (protocetraric acid); rare, may be absent from Alberta….Flavoparmelia caperata
4b. Lobes <2 mm broad, tightly appressed, medulla UV+ white, PD-; common in Alberta…..Parmeliopsis ambigua
Resources
Brodo, I. M. 2016. Keys to the lichens of North America. Revised and Expanded. Yale University Press, in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. Lichens of North America. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.
Goward, T., B. McCune, and D. Meidinger. 1994. The Lichens of British Columbia Illustrated Keys. Part 1 – Foliose and Squamulose Species. Ministry of Forests Research Program, Province of British Columbia.
Haughland, D.L., A. Hood, D. Thauvette, S.A. Toni, M. Cao, J.D. Birch, J. Wasyliw, L. Hjartarson, M. Villeneuve, A. Stordock, D.A. Fielder, M. Lewis, D. Evans, D. Royko, R. Bolduc, H. Webster, J.D. Singh, K.A. Schafer, S. Goyette, H.E. Davidson & C. Shier. 2022. Getting to know our neighbours: 108 urban lichens of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and an initial assessment of their utility as community-science indicators. Opuscula Philolichenum 21: 33-181. https://www.nhm2.uio.no/botanisk/lav/RLL/PDF/R43924.pdf
