SPECIES FACT SHEET

Scientific Name: Hypogymnia pulverata (Nyl. ex Crombie) ElixDivision: AscomycotaClass: LecanoromycetesOrder: LecanoralesFamily: Parmeliaceae

Technical Description: Thallus foliose, with distinct upper and lower surfaces (cortices), circular, to 15 cm wide, of crowded or contiguous lobes. Lobes 1-10 mm wide, somewhat puffed and thick but solid inside, unlike the hollow lobes of other Hypogymnia species. Lobes dichotomously branched, not crowded; near the center of the thallus they adhere to the substrate while lobes on the periphery are trailing. Upper cortex grey with wrinkles on the surface, erupting into granular soredia that may cover the upper surface. Medulla mostly solid. Lower surface strongly wrinkled, pale brown near the tips, becoming black inwards. Reproduction: Apothecia rare, rising above the surface so they appear stalked, funnel-shaped, 3-12 mm wide, the fruiting surface concave to flat, red-brown, thalline margin smooth (entire), becoming sorediate with age. Soredia laminal, arising through disintegration of the upper cortex. Photobiont a green alga.

Chemistry: cortex K+ yellow (atronorin), medulla KC+ red, P+ red or P-.

Distinctive characters: 1) Evenly forked thallus with 2) solid medulla, 3) coarsely sorediate upper cortex.

Similar species: Hypogymnia apinnata and H. heterophylla are common in coastal habitats but are not sorediate and their lobes are hollow.

Hypogymnia oceanica is an uncommon small species with laminal soralia; it has hollow lobes with dark ceilings and floors and does not have clearly dichotomously branched lobes. Its habitat is coastal in Alaska interior forests in Oregon.

Hypogymnia subphysodes is very similar to H. pulverata but has hollow lobes with white ceilings and floors, and is extremely rare.

Hypogymnia tubulosa has discrete round soralia on the surface of the lobe tips.

Other Hypogymnia species that have soredia on the lobe surface are found inland.

Hypogymnia hultenii (synonym Cavernularia hultenii) has laminal soralia on lobe tips but the thalli are much smaller (generally < 2 cm in diameter), lobes are narrower (<1 mm wide) and the black lower cortex is much-perforated.

Other descriptions and illustrations: Brodo (1989) Elix & James (1992); Galloway (1985); McCune & Geiser (1997).

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Life History: Details for Hypogymnia pulverata are not documented. Apothecia are rare rangewide and dispersal is probably mostly restricted to vegetative propagation via soredia, litterfall, and fragmentation. Its occurrence in the Pacific Northwest, far from known populations in Alaska and the Southern Hemisphere, suggests long-distance dispersal by migrating birds or trans-Pacific storm systems. The single thallus found in Oregon may represent the last of a population in the area, the beginning of a range extension, or an anomaly.

Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Interruptedly bipolar. Pacific Northwest, Alaska and eastern North America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. Rare in North America, widespread in Australia and New Zealand. In the Pacific Northwest, known only from one location in Tillamook Co. NW of Pacific City. It has been found at a scattering of sites around Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

National Forests and BLM Districts: not documented on any Forests; suspected on the Siuslaw National Forest; documented from NW Oregon District (Salem); suspected on the Coos Bay District.

Habitat: The single known site for Hypogymnia pulverata in the Pacific Northwest is in coastal forest, where it was collected in litterfall from branches of Picea sitchensis near the top of a forested dune on BLM property in Tillamook County (McCune et al.1997). In Alsaka, it grows on Tsuga mertensiana, Picea glauca, P. mariana and Betula neoalaskana, often adjacent to open peatlands or small ponds.

The only other locations reported for North America are from Alaska and the coast of Hudson Bay in Quebec, where it was found on Picea mariana (Brodo 1989). In Australia it lives in temperate forests up into the subalpine, on dead wood, bark, twigs, and rocks. In New Zealand it is found in coastal and inland sites on dead wood, bark of trees and shrubs, and rock.

Threats: Air pollution and overcollecting may be the primary threats to Hypogymnia pulverata. Lichens of dune woodlands and forests are at risk from air pollution because Pacific City is nearby.

Conservation Considerations: Little is known of this species in North America. McCune et al. (1997) noted that only one individual was found at the single known locality in the Pacific Northwest, and it is unclear if that population still survives. Revisit the known site and monitor the status of the population. Searches for new populations in similar habitat should be a priority. Conservation Rankings: Global: G5; National: NNR; Oregon: S1 ORBIC List 2, Sensitve; Washington: not ranked.

Preparer: Daphne Stone, with edits by John A. ChristyDate Completed: March 2019

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References

Brodo, I. M. 1989. Hypogymnia pulverata, new to North America. Lichenologist 21: 184-186.

Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff and S. Sharnoff. 2001. Lichens of North America. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 795 pp.

Elix, J.A. & P.W. James. 1992. Hypogymniaceae. Flora of Australia 54 (1): 208-245.

Elix, J. A. 1992. on: Checklist of the Lichens of Australia and its Island Territiories. Australian Biological Resources Study. Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Environmental and Water Resources. Accessed 31 Dec 2007.

http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/lichenlist/FLORA 54/Hypogymnia_pulverata.html

Elvebakk, A. 2011. A review of the genus Hypogymnia (Parmeliaceae) in Chile. The Bryologist 114(2): 379-388.

Galloway, D. J. 1985. Flora of New Zealand. Lichens. Wellington, P. D. Hasselberg, New Zealand Government Printer.

McCune, B. and L. Geiser. 2009. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest, Second Edition. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR. 464 pp.

McCune, B. & R. Rosentreter. 1997. Hypogymnia subphysodes new to North America. Evansia 14: 106.

McCune, B, R. Rosentreter, & A. DeBolt. 1997. Biogeography of rare lichens from the coast of Oregon. In: Conservation and management of Native Flora and Fungi. T. N. Kaye et al., editors. Native Plant Society of Oregon, Corvallis.

Nelson, P. R., J. Walton, H. Root and T. Spribille. 2011. Hypogymnia pulverata (Parmeliaceae) and Collema leptaleum (Collemataceae), two macrolichens new to Alaska. North American Fungi 6(7):1-8.

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Thallus of H. pulvinata from Talkeetna AK (Walton 11670 dupl.). Photo by Daphne Stone.

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Sorediate lobes of H. pulvinata from Talkeetna, AK (Walton 11670 dupl.). Photo by Daphne Stone.

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Part of H. pulvinata thallus from Anchorage Borough (Heather Root 1890). Photo by Daphne Stone.

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