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Peltigera canina (L.) Willd., 1787 group

Common name Dog Pelt
Code PELTCAN grp.
Field Characters Medium sized leafy bipartite cyanolichen. Thalli to 10 cm across, composed of individual or rosettiform lobes. Lobes branching sparingly. Upper surface quilted with downturned lobe tips, varying greatly in color from grey to green to brown when wet or dry. Appressed arachnoid tomentum present on the upper lobe, typically thickest near the lobe tips.  Lower cortex lacking, lower surface covered in a network of narrow veins and interstices, with abundant squarrose rhizines that often become confluent (more rarely simple and discrete). Apothecia red-brown, saddle-shaped. Vegetative propagules lacking.
Similar species
Other strongly supported and currently undescribed clades (P. “neocanina” group) and recently described species (P. islandica) cannot be distinguished with confidence without molecular data,
Ecology Typically on soil, mosses, downed wood, rock and tree bases in mature to old-growth forests of various types. Present in foothills, mountain, boreal, and shield sites, rare in parklands and absent from grasslands. Present in urban habitats as well (Haughland et al. 2022).
Chemistry Not investigated.
Molecular support
High, represented by 2 well-supported molecular clades, but at present morphologically indistinguishable from more distantly related species. We continue to work to understand how these clades differ morphologically and ecologically.
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Lichens of Alberta Copyright © by Diane L. Haughland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.