Nephroma expallidum (Nyl.) Nyl., 1865
| Common name | Alpine Paw |
|---|---|
| Code | NEPHEXP |
| Field Characters | Yellowish green cephalolichen, becoming browned especially in sunlit habitats. Lobes crisped, crinkled, crowded, and ascending, without isidia or soredia but often lobulate. Cephalodia can be quite cryptic, barely or not at all visible as greyish bumps beneath the cortex. Upper cortex shiny and/or pruinose, sometimes fuzzy, and a yellow to brownish colour. Lower surface a pale tan near the edges and dark brown at the center. Lower surface more or less tomentose, but always lacking rhizines. Apothecia not common, on the lower surface of often reflexed lobe tips, with a brown, kidney-shaped disc, vaguely resembling the paw pads of a dog. |
| Similar species |
Other Nephroma species: Nephroma arcticum and Nephroma expallidum are unique in their genus as a green algae dominant cephalolichens. N. arcticum has a yellow-green upper surface (KC+Y), more visible cephalodia, and apothecia are common. Other Nephroma species in Alberta are cyanolichens that lack cephalodia and tend toward a brownish-gray colour rather than a greenish-yellow.
Peltigera species carry their apothecia on the upper surface of their lobes. |
| Ecology | Terricolous in conifer forests. In Alberta found only in the mountain region. |
| Chemistry | Cortex and medulla PD+ deep yellow, K-, KC-, C-, UV- (nephroarctin, zeorin, and other triterpenes; lacking usnic acid). |
| Molecular support |
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