''Gallowayella montana'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling)

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family, estimated to contain over 1800 species, was extensively revised in 2013, including the creation o ...

. It occurs in North America.

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described as a new species in 1997 by Swedish/Norwegian lichenologist Louise Lindblom, as a member of genus '' Xanthoria''. The type specimen was collected by William Weber in Montrose County, Colorado near the

Cerro Summit Cerro Summit (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the State of Colorado, located about 14 miles east of Montrose, Colorado. It divides the watershed of the Cimmaron River to the east and the Uncompahgre River to the west, both of which eventually f ...

, at an altitude of . The species epithet derives from the Latin word ''montanus'', or montane. After being transferred to genus ''

Xanthomendoza ''Xanthomendoza'' is a genus of small, bright orange foliose lichen, foliose lichens with lecanorine apothecia. It is in the family Teloschistaceae. Members of the genus are List of common names of lichen genera, commonly called sunburst lichens ...

'' in 2002, and then to ''

Oxneria ''Oxneria'' is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It has four species. The genus was circumscribed in 2003 by Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt, with ''Oxneria alfredii'' assigned as the type species. The generic nam ...

'' a year later, in 2012

Sergey Kondratyuk Sergey Yakovlevich Kondratyuk ( uk, Сергій Якович Кондратюк) (born 17 May 1959) is a Ukrainian botanist specialising in lichenology. His research deals with the taxonomy, floristics, ecology and geography of lichens and lic ...

and colleagues transferred it to the genus ''

Gallowayella ''Gallowayella'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 15 species. The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 2012 by Sergey Kondratyuk, Natalya Fedorenko, Soili Stenroos, Ingvar Kärnefelt, Joh ...

'' as part of a molecular phylogenetics-based restructuring of several genera in subfamily Xanthioideae of family Teloschistaceae.

Description

The thallus of ''Gallowayella montana'' forms rosettes up to in diameter, although neighbouring thalli often coalesce to form larger units. Its color ranges from yellow to light orange to dark orange, and the surface is shiny. The comprising the thallus are between 0.2 and 0.5 mm wide, and more or less smooth, flat, and horizontal, with frequently branches and rounded tips. There are many rhizines on the underside of the thallus that attach it to the ; they are white to yellow in color. The is more or less discontinuous and occurs throughout the medulla. Apothecia are frequent in this species; they have a maximum diameter of 3.5 mm are flat to slightly concave. produced by the lichen are clylindrical to narrowly

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

in shape, have a single

septum In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; plural septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatri ...

, and typically measure 13.0–15.6 long by 5.1–7.4

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

wide.

Habitat and distribution

''Gallowayella montana'' is widely distributed in temperate regions of the western United States and Canada; a single

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collectio ...

has been noted from Alaska, as well as a dubious collection from Washington, D.C. It grows on the bark of trees, particularly species of poplar, oak, and ''

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

''. The lichen tends to occur in dry, open habitats that are nutrient rich.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107691791 montana Lichen species Lichens described in 1997 Lichens of Western Canada Lichens of the Northwestern United States Lichens of the Southwestern United States Lichens of Subarctic America