Nephroma bellum (Spreng.) Tuck., 1841
| Common name | Cat Paw |
|---|---|
| Code |
NEPHBEL |
| Field Characters | Medium sized brownish grey foliose cyanolichen. Thalli loosely attached centrally and ascending near margins. Upper cortex dull brown and smooth. Lower cortex light brown and smooth to minutely wooly and lacking rhizines. No vegetative propagules. Apothecia common, on the underside of enlarged lobe tips with wrinkled upper cortex above, and a brown, kidney-shaped disc, vaguely resembling the paw pads of a dog. |
| Similar species |
N. helveticum and N. parile both have smooth to minutely wooly undersides, but N. helveticum has marginal isidia and tooth-like lobules and N. parile has soredia and/or isidia. Other Nephroma have undersides that are distinctly covered in dense tomentum that often obscures the fine wrinkles of the lower surface, or are cephalolichens. |
| Ecology | Epiphytic in old growth mixedwood, deciduous, and white spruce boreal forests. |
| Chemistry | All spot tests negative, with zeorin and other triterpenes detectable by TLC. |
| Molecular support |
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| Links | |
| Gallery |
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- Nephroma bellum
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- Nephroma bellum
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- Nephroma bellum on Aw in ABMI Mock day training sites on crown land near Parkland Provincial Park, east of Lac la Biche MM-Aw mature forest
