Vulpicida pinastri (Scop.) J.-E. Mattsson & M.J. Lai, 1993
| Common name | Powdered Sunshine | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Code | VULPPIN | ||
| Field Characters | Small, leafy chlorolichen. Thalli greyish to greenish to bright yellow, composed of frilly, ruffled, or wrinkled lobes to 0.5 cm wide, loosely attached to ascending. Lobes bright yellow marginally due to almost continuous, marginal soralia full of powdery, yellow soredia. Rhizines sparse. Medulla yellow. Apothecia not known in AB, rare elsewhere. | ||
| Similar species & genera |
Vulpicida canadensis: lacks soredia.
Polycaulionia, Xanthomendoza, Xanthoria: orange due to anthraquinones. Shade forms may be tricky to diagnose, but the K+ purple reaction of these genera will help. |
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| Ecology | Epiphytic on trees and shrubs of many species, also on downed wood. Very common in the forested regions (boreal, foothills, shield), occasional in the mountains, and rare in the parkland and grasslands. Also present in urban parkland (Haughland et al. 2022). | ||
| Chemistry | All spot tests apparently negative. The cortices are KC+ yellow (usnic acid) but the reaction is very difficult to observe due to the yellow color. Medulla with vulpinic and pinastric acids (all spot tests negative). | ||
| Molecular support |
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| Links | |||
| Gallery |
- Vulpicida pinastri, northern AB
- Vulpicida pinastri, Edmonton, AB
- Vulpicida pinastri, Opal Natural Area, AB
- Vulpicida pinastri, Jackman Flats, BC
- Vulpicida pinastri, Edmonton, AB
- Parmeliopsis ambigua with Vulpicida pinastri, Lac la Biche region, AB





