''Niebla arenaria'' is a

fruticose lichen A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or mor ...

that grows along the Pacific Coast of North America in the fog regions of the northern peninsula of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

from near Colonet south to Morro Santo Domingo. The epithet, ''arenaria'', is in regard to the species growing on sand.Spjut, R. W. 1996. ''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida Bot. Misc. 14

Distinguishing features

''Niebla arenaria'' is recognized by a hemispherical

thallus Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...

similar to the reindeer lichen ''

Cladonia rangiferina ''Cladonia rangiferina'', also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen (cf. Swedish language, Sw. ''renlav'') or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-colored fruticose lichen, fruticose, Cladonia, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. ...

'', loosely attached to soil without a holdfast, intricately divided into narrow tubular prismatic branches shortly bifurcate near branch tips, the tips usually with black dot-like

pycnidia A pycnidium (plural pycnidia) is an asexual fruiting body produced by mitosporic fungi, for instance in the order Sphaeropsidales ( Deuteromycota, Coelomycetes) or order Pleosporales (Ascomycota, Dothideomycetes). It is often spherical or inve ...

, and by containing the lichen substance

salazinic acid Salazinic acid is a depsidone with a lactone ring. It is found in some lichens, and is especially prevalent in ''Parmotrema'' and ''Bulbothrix'', where its presence or absence is often used to help classify species in those genera. History I ...

. It sometime forms pure colonies along sandy shores of bays and peninsulas, possibly as a result of the black-tipped branchlets breaking off and reproducing. Similar species are '' Niebla brachyura'', distinguished by containing the lichen substance hypoprotocetraric acid, '' Niebla pulchribarbara'', distinguished by containing protocetraric acid, and ''

Niebla limicola ''Niebla limicola'' is a fruticose lichen that grows on barren mud flats and on sand among salt scrub along the Pacific Coast of the Vizcaíno Desert, of Baja California from San Vicente Canyon to Scammon’s Lagoon (Guerrero Negro).Spjut, R. W. ...

'', that differs by the broad flattened curled (crispate) branches near base from which short bifurcate acicular branchlets develop.

Taxonomic history

Although ''Niebla arenaria'' was described in 1996, it had been known earlier as a chemical variant of '' Niebla pulchribarbara'' that was distinguished from ''Niebla homalea'' by containing depsidones instead of depsides, and from '' Niebla josecuervoi'' by the lack of central basal attachment point and without apothecia.Rundel P., P. A. Bowler and T. W. Mulroy. 1972. A fog-induced lichen community in northwestern Baja California, with two new species of ''Desmazieria'' The Bryologist 75: 501–508. These two groups of lichen substances could be separated by the medulla reaction to ''para''-phenylenediamine, depsidones (pd+), depsides (pd-). It was stated that: "This beautiful

terricolous A terricolous lichen is a lichen that grows on the soil as a substrate. An example is some members of the genus ''Peltigera ''Peltigera'' is a genus of approximately 100 species of foliose lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. Commonly known as ...

species forms extensive discontinuous mats...on beach terrace deposits atop coastal bluffs south of El Rosario and beyond, often in densities great enough to color the landscape yellow-green." The extensive terricolous lichen growth has since been recognized to comprise ''N. arenaria'' and '' Niebla effusa'', with occasional '' Niebla juncosa''. '' Niebla pulchribarbara'' is recognized strictly by the lichen substance protocetraric acid, and is considered a rare species found only in northern Baja California; however, one of the coauthors who first described ''N. pulchribarbara'', has since considered the species to be a morphological and chemical variant of another species he described, ''N. josecuervoi'', along with ''N. arenaria'', and all other species that contain salazinic acid and hypoprotocetraric acid.Bowler, P. and J. Marsh. 2004. ''Niebla''. ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 2’: 368–380.

References

External links

*World Botanical Associates, ''Niebla arenaria'', retrieved 17 Dec 2014, http://www.worldbotanical.com/niebla_arenaria.htm#arenaria *World Botanical Associates, ''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' Communities, retrieved 18 Dec 2014, http://www.worldbotanical.com/niebla_communities.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q20720406 Lichen species Lichens of North America Ramalinaceae Lichens described in 1996 Taxa named by Richard Wayne Spjut