''Peltigera wulingensis'' is a species of

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 ...

(ground-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Peltigeraceae. Originally described from specimens found in northern China, it has since been recorded in Canada, Norway, and Russia.

Taxonomy

The lichen was formally described as new to science in 2013 by Liu-Fu Han and Shou-Yu Guo. The type specimen was collected from the Wuling Mountains ( Hebei Province) at an altitude of . Here it was found growing on the ground in a forest dominated by the trees ''

Betula platyphylla ''Betula platyphylla'', the Asian white birch or Japanese white birch, is a tree species in the family Betulaceae. It can be found in subarctic and temperate Asia in Japan, China, Korea, Mongolia, and Russian Far East and Siberia Siberia ( ...

'', '' Larix principis-rupprechtii'' and '' Populus davidiana''. This temperate zone locale is foggy and cloudy all year. The species epithet refers to the type locality.

Description

The thallus of the lichen is frail and thin with a circular outline, and measures in diameter. The comprising the thallus are wide and up to long. The colour of the thallus ranges from pale grey to dark grey or greyish brown when it is dry, but it darkens to blackish green when it is wet. The thallus surface is –having rough, having fine scales or delicate and irregular projections. The medulla is white. Wart-like to scale-like are present, and they measure 0.3–1.5 mm wide. There are abundant simple rhizines (rarely branched) on the thallus undersurface; they are white to dark grey to brown. There are no apothecia, and pycnidia are rare. The lichen products detected in this species were two unidentified triterpenes. Another Chinese species, '' Peltigera shennongjiana'', is somewhat similar in appearance. It can be distinguished from ''P. wulingensis'' by the lack of scabrosity in its upper surface, the presence of pruina on the thallus, and its long and bushy rhizines.

Habitat and distribution

Originally described from specimens found in northern China, ''Peltigera wulingensis'' has since been recorded in Canada ( Ontario and Quebec), three locations in Norway, and the Krasnoyarsk Krai region of Russia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21313782 wulingensis Lichen species Lichens described in 2013 Lichens of China Lichens of Eastern Canada Lichens of Northern Europe Lichens of Siberia