Niebla lobulata

Niebla lobulata is a fruticose lichen that grows on rocks in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of Baja California, from Bahía de San Quintín to Vizcaíno Peninsula and offshore islands, Isla San Martín,[1] and Guadalupe Island.[2] The epithet, lobulata is in reference to the lobed margins of the thallus branches.

Niebla lobulata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Ascomycota
Class:
Lecanoromycetes
Order:
Lecanorales
Family:
Ramalinaceae
Genus:
Niebla
Species:
N. lobulata
Binomial name
Niebla lobulata
Spjut 1996

Distinguishing Features

Niebla lobulata is distinguished by a thallus divided into mostly strap-shaped branches from a basal holdfast, the branches not more than 20 in number, wide spreading above a short tapered and narrow base, occasionally dividing into similar branches, the branch margins often wavy (undulate), and/or lobed, or lacerated, the whole thallus not more than 7 cm high.[2] The species (N. lobulata) also recognized by containing sekikaic acid (with triterpenes), and by a relatively thin cortex, (0-)35–75(-100) µm thick, eroding near base, covering a fistulose medulla (solid on Guadalupe Island), which seems related to the contorted appearance of the branches.[2] The species (N. lobulata) is most similar to Niebla undulata, which differs by having the lichen substance of divaricatic acid, instead of sekikaic acid.

Taxonomic History

Niebla lobulata was first recognized as distinct from other species in the genus while collecting samples for chemopreventive agents and for anticancer screening on the Vizcaíno Peninsula near Arroyo San Andrés. A 400 gram sample of (N. lobulata) was collected among flowering plants Pachycormus discolor, Encelia stenophylla, Eriogonum encelioides, Eriogonum pondii, Salvia cedrosensis, Petalonyx linearis, Rhus lentii and various other lichens and one desert mushroom identified as having affinity to Battarraea phalloides.[3] The species (N. lobulata) was also found growing with Niebla usneoides, which also contains sekikaic acid but differs in having isidia (isidium).

Niebla lobulata has been included under a very broad species concept, (Niebla homalea);[4] one that recognizes only three species in the genus Niebla as defined by the having a two-layered cortex, isolated chondroid strands in the medulla, and by the lichen substances lacking the terpenes found in Vermilacinia.[5] Further comparisons between the two species concepts are given in a review.[6]

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References
  1. Isla San Martin, MapCarta, retrieved 22 Dec 2014, http://mapcarta.com/20316724
  2. Spjut, R. W. 1996. Niebla and Vermilacinia (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida Bot. Misc. 14
  3. Samples of lichens and flowering plants collected for John Cassady, Chairman of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at Purdue University, and later Dean of the School of Pharmacy at Ohio State University. He and his graduate student, Thomas McCloud, had accompanied Richard Spjut on an expedition to Baja California during May 1986. A 400 gram sample N. lobulata was accessioned as WBA-385 (Spjut 9785, Niebla sp. (undescribed). Voucher specimens of the species cited were deposited at the United States National Herbarium (Smithsonian Institution. Samples at Purdue University were later retrieved by Thomas McCloud as manager of the Natural Products extraction lab at Frederick, Maryland. The NCI group maintains an inventory of natural product extracts with details on the collection data.
  4. Bowler, P. and J. Marsh. 2004. Niebla. ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 2’: 368–380.
  5. Spjut, R. W. 1995. Vermilacinia (Ramalinaceae, Lecanorales), a new genus of lichens. In: Flechten Follmann; Contr. Lichen in honor of Gerhard Follmann; F. J. A. Daniels, M. Schulz & J. Peine, eds., Koeltz Scientific Books: Koenigstein, pp. 337-351.
  6. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert: Book Review, Richard Spjut, web page, http://www.worldbotanical.com/lichen%20flora%20review.htm

World Botanical Associates, Niebla lobulata, retrieved 28 Dec 2014, http://www.worldbotanical.com/niebla_lobulata.htm#lobulata

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