Elegant Sunburst Lichen

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Elegant Sunburst Lichen is an extremely widespread and very common lichen. It is found on all continents worldwide including Antarctica. It is common in Minnesota. It grows on rocks in humid to dry micro climates. It is common on rocky shores, especially where bird droppings provide nitrogen for its sustenance. It is very common on the rocky shores of Lake Superior. It is very long lived and very slow growing: it grows at a consistent rate of 1 ⁄64″ (0.5 mm) per year for the first hundred years before slowing down a bit.

The vegetative body (thallus) is leaf-like (foliose) and divided into small branches (lobes). It forms colonies up to 2½″ (6.5 cm) in diameter. It grows very closely attached to the substrate (rock) but does not have root-like structures (rhizines). The lobes are convex, narrow, rounded to flattened at the tip, and 1 ⁄64″ to 1 ⁄16″ (0.5 to 2.0 mm) wide. They grow tightly connected to adjacent lobes and are so small that the lichen may at appear crusty (crusticose), especially near the center. The color of the upper surface varies with the amount of moisture available: in streams it is yellowish-orange, on rocks out of water it is orange, and in dry areas it is dark reddish-orange. The lower surface is white and somewhat wrinkled. Occasionally there are short, peg-like structures (hapters) attaching the thallus to the substrate.

Disk-like, spore-producing structures (apothecia) are common, often abundant, sometimes absent. The disks are 1 ⁄32″ to ⅛″ (2 to 7 mm) in diameter, slightly raised, shaped like a plate, and the same color as the thallus. Xanthoria elegans var. splendens, the variety found in Minnesota, does not produce powdery dull granules (soredia) or shiny granules (isidia).

Rock

Foliose

Humid to dry.

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77, 81.

Extremely widespread and very common

This species was originally described as Lichen elegans in 1791. It was transferred to the genus Xanthoria in 1860. A recent study (Kondratyuk and Kärnefelt, 2003) transferred it to the new genus Rusavskia based on the narrow lobes of the thallus The move was not at first widely accepted. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2009 and 2012 confirmed its placement in the new genus.

Both names are widely used today. MycoBank, Mushroom Observer, LichenPortal, NCBI, NatureServe, and iNaturalist use the name Rusavskia elegans. Index Fungorum, GBIF, MycoPortal, Ways of Enlichenment, and ITIS use the name Xanthoria elegans.

We spotted several elegant sunburst lichens in Stevens County, MN last month and got some excellent pictures! These were taken in Calvary Cemetery in Morris, MN by Lucas, Roz, and Kat.

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Location: Morris, MN

We spotted several elegant sunburst lichens in Stevens County, MN last month and got some excellent pictures! These were taken in Calvary Cemetery in Morris, MN by Lucas, Roz, and Kat.

Location: Cass County

Location: Cass County