Letharia lupina/L. vulpina

Diane L. Haughland

Letharia lupina Altermann, Leavitt & Goward, 2016

Common name	Wolf Lichen	Code: LETHLUP
Field Characters	Fruticose, shrubby chlorolichens. Bright, chartreuse yellow. Branching abundantly, branches angular and ridged, moderately stiff but still pliable. Cortex typically soft and dull. Medulla loose and cottony, with strands of tough, fibrous tissue. Soredia grainy, coarse, and developing into isidia sometimes, on branch ridges. Apothecia rare.
Similar species	Letharia vulpina: morphologically indistinguishable from L. lupina. The two AB specimens sequenced in Altermann et al. (2016) were placed in L. lupina, so we adopt that name here, but you could also refer to collections that fit this description as Letharia vulpina group.
Ecology	Restricted range epiphyte, when found often abundant especially on lodgepole pines and lignum of downed wood. Largely restricted to the upper foothills and mountain regions of Alberta, with disjunct populations in Cypress hills and the prairies.
Chemistry	Cortex K-, KC+ yellow, PD-, UV- (usnic acid), medulla UV- or UV+ dull white (divaricatic acid).
Molecular support	Letharia lupina was described as a cryptic species based on molecular data (Altermann et al. 2016). Letharia lupina is genetically quite distant from L. vulpina, and more related to a clade of Letharia columbiana s. lat. Of the two sorediate species, L. lupina is more common in North America.
Links	Alberta Biodiversity Browser Consortium of Lichen Herbaria – lupina Consortium of Lichen Herbaria – vulpina Ways of Enlichenment Photo Gallery- see both lupina and vulpina
Gallery