Lepraria moroziana Lendemer

  • Authority

    Lendemer, James C. 2010. Notes on s. l. (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota) in North America: New species, new reports, and preliminary keys. Brittonia. 62 (3): 267-292.

  • Family

    Stereocaulaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Lepraria moroziana Lendemer

  • Description

    Description - Thallus crustose, leprose, without "lobes," diffuse, patchy to confluent and continuous, with granules initially sparsely distributed, eventually accumulating in overlapping heaps that become confluent and of varying thickness (0.2-1.0 mm), light greenish-yellow in color (often with a dirty brown-orange hue due to the presence of anthraquinone pigment); hypothallus a thin and loose network of hyphae surrounding the granules and extending outward from the edge of the thallus and thalline heaps; hyphae anchoring the granules to each other and to the substrate, 2.0-4.0 urn wide, hyaline, distinctly septate, branching frequently at the septa and appearing reticulate, thin walled, obscured by a thick, layer of crystals that dissolve in KOH; granules small (15-)20-30 (-35) um in diameter, ecorticate, irregular in shape and poorly organized, usually a core of <10 aggregated algal cells surrounded by a loose network of hyphae that become gelatinized and form a pseudocortex, ± round, readily dividing; photobiont green, coccoid, globose, 8-10 µm in diameter.

  • Discussion

    Mycobank #518308

    Chemistry. - Lepraria moroziana has a complex chemistry including several compounds that are present only in minor amounts and thus not readily detected with TLC. An unidentified anthraquinone pigment is present in all of the specimens examined, though its concentration is also variable. Isousnic acid, and obtusatic acid are diagnostic substances for the species.

    As discussed below, the new species is most similar to Lepraria obtusatica. An isotype of L. obtusatica at DUKE was reexamined with TLC and only obtusatic and subsquamatic acids were detected. The speci- men was also examined by Chicita Culberson prior to the description of the species by Tonsberg (1992) who detected obtusatic acid and several unknowns. The two additional comparative specimens cited here were reexamined independently by Tor Tonsberg and myself and in both cases we did not detect isousnic acid or an anthraquinone pigment.

    TLC: atranorin, isousnic acid, unidentified anthraquinone pigment, obtusatic acid, and subsquamatic acid. HPLC (performed by J. Elix on a sub- sample of Lendemer 10951, NY): obtusatic acid (major), isousnic acid (minor), atranorin (minor), placodiolic acid (minor), subsquamatic acid (minor), subbaeomycesic acid (minor), unknown(minor).

    Spot tests: K+ dull yellow (or K+ purple when pigment is present), KC+ dull yellow, C-, P-, UV+ blue-white.

    Etymology - This distinctive taxon is named in honor of Andrei Moroz, who has accompanied me on many field excursions in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America

    Ecology and distribution - Lepraria moroziana is apparently a rare species of non-calcareous rock overhangs, vertical faces, and rotting conifer stumps at high elevations in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America. The species is almost certainly restricted to cool, moist, humid micro- habitats in this region. It is presently known from Georgia, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania

    Despite nearly five years of field work in the Appalachian Mountains by the author and his colleagues, Lepraria moroziana has only been collected only a handful of times. At each location the species was abundant, and the dominant Lepraria in the habitat it occupied. While it may be more common than the available material indicates, it is almost certainly rare since high elevation rock overhangs and conifer stumps are habitats frequently studied by lichenologists. Further study of the available habitat in the region is required to determine if L. moroziana requires some level of protection at the state or federal level.

    Discussion. - Lepraria moroziana is morphologically indistinguishable from L. obtusatica Tonsberg, which is also the only other species of Lepraria known to produce obtusatic acid as a major secondary compound. The new species is biogeographically and chemically distinct from L. obtusatica which is known only from Europe (while L. moroziana is known only from the Appalachian Mountains in North America) and does not produce isousnic acid or an anthraquinone pigment. The high degree of chemical and morphological similarity between these two species almost certainly indicates a close relationship and it is likely their generic affinities lie outside of the Stereocaulaceae (Ekman & Tonsberg, 2002). In the field Lepraria moroziana cannot easily be confused with any other species of Lepraria. It frequently occurs with several other species of Lepraria, namely L. cryophila (which produces divaricarle and nordivaricatic acid) and L. lobificans auct. (which produces atranorin, zeorin, and the stictic acid chemosyndrome). Both of these species also differ from L. moroziana in having thick well delimited thalli with a thick non-lichenized hypothallus upon which the lichenized granules rest. In contrast L. moroziana has a thin thallus composed of a loose airy interconnected network of lichenized granules. The new species is morphologically comparable to L. caesiella R.C. Harris and L. friabilis Lendemer, K. Knudsen and Elix, in granule size and thallus thickness however those species differ chemically and biogeographically (see the species key herein).