E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Peltigera neopolydactyla (Gyelnik) Gyelnik
Undulating pelt
Peltigeraceae

Introduction to the Lichens

© Jim Riley  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #12600)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Peltigera neopolydactyla
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Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria map

Species Information

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Illustration By: Trevor Goward

General:
Common Name: The Pelt Lichens. Echoes the genus name and describes the general resemblance of the species to various animal skins.
Small to large stratified foliose lichens, corticate above, noncorticate below, isidiate, sorediate or lobulate or not, cephalodiate or not, lobes loosely attached, short to subrotund, averaging to 1–3 (–4) cm wide, thin or thick. Upper surface greenish, greyish or brownish, smooth or somewhat roughened, naked or tomentose. Lower surface pale or dark, usually veined, bearing numerous rhizines, these short or long, slender or tufted. Medulla white. Photobiont green and/or blue-green.
Apothecia appressed on upper surface near margins, often saddle-shaped, disc brownish; spores 4-celled to multi-celled, ellipsoid or needlelike/acicular, colourless or brown at maturity, (2–) 8 per ascus.
Over soil and moss, occasionally over trees.
Notes: All but one of the 30 Peltigera species reported for North America are known to occur in B.C. Peltigera is a taxonomically rather difficult genus containing a number of species groups that are not yet satisfactorily elucidated. Chemistry is highly variable in this group; though thin-layer chromatography may help to identify some species, spot test reactions do not.
Comments:
Small, thickened specimens growing in bogs and other open places may be referred to P. occidentalis (E. Dahl) H. Krist. Scabrid material occurring in coastal localities may represent a separate taxon.
Contents:
Tenuiorin.

Source: Lichens of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Habitat: Frequent over soil, moss, mossy rocks and logs in humid localities throughout, except apparently absent from boreal regions
World Distribution: probably incompletely circumpolar, S to CA.

Source: Lichens of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Peltigera polydactyla var. neopolydactyla Gyel.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Range and Status Information Links

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General References