''Niebla sorocarpia'' 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 on rocks along the foggy Pacific Coast of California in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

(

San Miguel Island San Miguel Island (Chumash: ''Tuqan'') is the westernmost of California's Channel Islands, located across the Santa Barbara Channel in the Pacific Ocean, within Santa Barbara County, California. San Miguel is the sixth-largest of the eight Cha ...

) and in

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 ...

in the Northern Vizcaíno Desert.Spjut, R. W. 1996. ''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida Bot. Misc. 14 The epithet, '' sorocarpia'', is in reference to the terminal aggregate apothecia.

Distinguishing features

''Niebla sorocarpia'' is characterized by a turgid 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 ...

divided into subtubular branches from a yellowish to yellowish orange pigmented holdfast, to 10 cm high and 12 cm across; the primary branches expanded above, palm-like and contorted from which finger to tongue-shaped lobes arise with dense aggregates of undeveloped isidia (

isidium An isidium is a vegetative reproductive structure present in some lichens. Isidia are outgrowths of the thallus surface, and are corticated (i.e., containing the outermost layer of the thallus), usually with a columnar structure, and consisting o ...

)-like apothecia or with isidia-like pycnidia, occasionally primary branches not expanded, remaining mostly linear with terminal aggregates of aborted apothecia; the whole thallus resembling

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cl ...

. The species (''N. sorocarpia'') further recognized by the relatively thick cortex, mostly 100–125 μm thick, in contrast to 35–75 μm thick, in the closely related ''Niebla undulata'', covering a subfistulose

medulla Medulla or Medullary may refer to: Science * Medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem * Renal medulla, a part of the kidney * Adrenal medulla, a part of the adrenal gland * Medulla of ovary, a stroma in the center of the ovary * Medulla of th ...

, the cortex eroding on terminal branches, the medulla exposed. ''Niebla sorocarpia'' is also identified by the lichen substance divaricatic acid, with unknown triterpenes, in contrast to sekikaic acid in '' Niebla lobulata''. Pycnidia prominent on margins of upper branches, with a thalline-like margin. Similar species are '' Niebla undulata'', distinguished by a smaller thallus with a short tubular base, and '' Niebla infundibula'' that differs by lack of aggregate apothecia and larger prominent pycnidia not elevated by the surrounding cortex.

Taxonomic history

''Niebla sorocarpia'' was first recognized by Richard Spjut, accompanied by Richard Marin and Thomas McCloud, on 19 May 1986 just south of Punta Negra on rock outcrops on a ridge that appeared to have received more precipitation from ocean fog than other nearby areas (Plate 1D in Spjut’s 1996 revision of ''Niebla'' and ''

Vermilacinia ''Vermilacinia'', a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Ramalinaceae, is a yellow-green fruticose type of lichen with about 30 species that grow on rocks, trees, and soil within the fog zone along the Pacific Coast of North America and South ...

''). This particular ridge was observed during May 1985 by Spjut—while he and Marin were collecting samples of lichens in search of new drugs to treat HIV—to have fog lingering around the peaks most of the day. The following year, in May 1986, a special effort was made to find a path to the ridges and peaks. In addition to ''Niebla sorocarpia'', other rare species of lichens were discovered, '' Niebla infundibula'' (divaricatic acid) and '' Vermilacinia rigida''. The species (''N. sorocarpia'') was later collected on boulders further north along the main peninsula of Baja California, and from

It (''N. sorocarpia'') appears to be an infrequent species of boulder ''Niebla'' communities, occurring where moisture from fog is greater as related to topography. ''Niebla sorocarpia'' has been interpreted to belong to a broad species concept of ''

Niebla homalea ''Niebla homalea'' is a species of fruticose lichen that grows on rocks in foggy areas along the Pacific Coast of North America, from Mendocino County, California south to Bahía de San Quintín on the main peninsula of Baja California, with an ...

'', one that recognizes only three species in the genus, two by the medulla reaction to ''para''-phenylenediamine, depsidones (pd+, ''

Niebla josecuervoi ''Niebla josecuervoi '' is a fruticose lichen that grows on rock, stony soil and sand along the Pacific Coast of northern Baja California from near Misión San Vicente Ferrer to Punta Santa Rosalilillita.Spjut, R. W. 1996. ''Niebla'' and ''Ve ...

''), depsides (pd-, ''

'') and one by isidia ('' Niebla isidiaescens''),Bowler, P. and J. Marsh. 2004. ''Niebla''. ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 2’: 368–380. based on the genus concept defined by Spjut;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; however, the broad taxonomic concept has many inconsistencies.Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert: Book Review, Richard Spjut, web page, http://www.worldbotanical.com/lichen%20flora%20review.htm

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20712139 Lichen species Lichens of North America Ramalinaceae Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Lichens described in 1996 Taxa named by Richard Wayne Spjut