''Niebla tesselata'' is a fruticose lichen that grows on rocks along the foggy Pacific Coast of in the Northern Vizcaíno Desert 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 ...

.Spjut, R. W. 1996. ''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida Bot. Misc. 14 The epithet, ''tesselata'', is in reference to the cobblestone pattern on the surface of the

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 ...

branches.

Distinguishing features

''Niebla tesselata '' is distinguished by the thallus divided into tubular branches from a pale rusty orange pigmented holdfast, the branches generally narrowly conical, simple, densely covered by black dot-like pycnidia positioned centrally on areolae, and by containing

sekikaic acid Sekikaic acid is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as depsides. It is found in some lichens. First isolated from '' Ramalina sekika'', it is a fairly common lichen product in ''Ramalina'' and ''Cladonia'', both genera ...

, with triterpenes. The species (''N. tesselata'') is unique in the genus for its simple branches and for the central development of pycnidia on the raised

areolate Lichens are composite organisms made up of multiple species: a fungal partner, one or more photosynthetic partners, and sometimes a basidiomycete yeast. They are regularly grouped by their external appearance – a characteristic known as their ...

surface, as opposed to developing along the cortical ridges as generally recognized for the genus ''Niebla''. Also, pycnidia are not confined to the upper parts of the branches as in most species of the genus; instead, they extend to the base of the thallus. Apothecia (

ascocarp An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are m ...

) are unknown.

Taxonomic history

''Niebla tesselata'' was recognized as a result of undertaking a taxonomic revision of the genus in regard to developing a lichen flora of

, which began in 1986. At the time the species (''N. tesselata'') was being published, it was only known from the holo

type (biology) In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

, collected 4 April 1994, ''Richard Spjut & Richard Marin 13108'', deposited in the United States National Herbarium (Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History, Botany Department). Subsequently another single specimen was found on Mesa San Carlos in April 1996; it is also without apothecia. The species occurs at the interior edges of fog zone on red volcanic rocks, where fog lichens generally become sparse. ''Niebla tesselata'' has been interpreted to belong to a broad species concept of '' Niebla homalea'', 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 ...

'') and depsides (pd-, '' Niebla homalea''), and one by 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 ...

),(''

Niebla isidiaescens ''Niebla isidiaescens'' is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae. It was originally described in 1994 from specimens collected in Baja California. The lichen grows on rocky outcrops in open maritime scrub habitats. Taxonom ...

''),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; The treatment of the species under 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

External links

*''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' Communities, Boulder Niebla Community, World Botanical Associates, retrieved 2 Jan 2015, http://www.worldbotanical.com/niebla_communities.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q20720405 Lichen species Lichens of North America Ramalinaceae Lichens described in 1996 Taxa named by Richard Wayne Spjut