Powdered Sunshine Lichen
(Vulpicida pinastri)
Conservation • Description • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | not listed |
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| NatureServe | NNR - Unranked |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Powdered Sunshine Lichen is an easily recognized, widespread, and very common lichen. It occurs in northern forested areas around the globe (circumboreal), including Europe, Asia, and North America. It occurs in every province in Canada. In the United States it occurs in the east from Maine to Virginia, west to Minnesota and Indiana, and in the west from Northern Washington to central California, east to North Dakota and New Mexico. It grows on the bark of conifers and birch. It is usually found no more than chest high, probably protected under snow from desiccation by winter winds. The vegetative body (thallus) is leaf-like (foliose), divided into lobes, and usually more than 1¼″ (3 cm) in diameter. It is attached to the substrate (bark) with scattered, white, anchoring structures (rhizines). When growing on flat surfaces, the lobes are short, and they join with adjacent thalli forming a flat (adnate) rosette. When growing on thin branches, the lobes are longer and more erect. The lobes are 1⁄16″ to 3⁄16″ (1.5 to 5.0 mm) wide and variable in form. They may be radiating or irregular, overlapping or scattered, and flat or curved up from the surface and more or less erect (ascending). They are usually ascending and rounded. The margins are wavy, more or less ascending, and scalloped (crenate), the ultimate lobes mostly short and 1⁄64″ to 1⁄16″ (0.2 to 1.5 mm) wide. The upper surface is smooth or slightly longitudinally grooved (canaliculate). It is unspotted, dull, and greenish-yellow or yellowish-green in sunny locations, grayish-green in shaded locations. The lower may be the same color as the upper surface, or pale yellow to brownish-yellow. The margins are densely covered with bright yellow reproductive granules (soredia), giving them a powdered look. This is the feature that gives the lichen its common name. The upper side of the thallus does not have soredia. Spore-producing structures (apothecia) are very rarely produced. When present, they are 1⁄32″to ⅛″ (1.0 to 2.5 mm) in diameter and saucer-shaped, with a pale reddish-brown disc. |
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Similar Species |
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Ecology |
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Substrate |
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Trees |
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Growth Form |
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Foliose |
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Habitat |
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Forests |
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Hosts |
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Conifers and birch |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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| 1/16/2023 | ||||
Occurrence |
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Taxonomy |
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| Kingdom | Fungi (fungi) | ||
| Subkingdom | Dikarya | ||
| Phylum | Ascomycota (sac fungi) | ||
| Subphylum | Pezizomycotina | ||
| Class | Lecanoromycetes (common lichens) | ||
| Subclass | Lecanoromycetidae (shield lichens, sunburst lichens, rosette lichens, and allies) | ||
Order |
Lecanorales (shield lichens, rim lichens, and allies) | ||
Suborder |
Lecanorineae | ||
Family |
Parmeliaceae (shield lichens and allies) | ||
| Subfamily | Parmelioideae (typical shield lichens) | ||
Genus |
Vulpicida | ||
| Mycobiont | Vulpicida pinastri | ||
| Photobiont | |||
Synonyms |
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Cetraria pinastri Lichen pinastri Lobaria pinastri Parmelia pinastri Platisma pinastri Squamaria pinastri Tuckermannopsis pinastri |
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Common Names |
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Powdered Sunshine Lichen |
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Glossary
Apothecium
An open, disk-shaped or cup-shaped, reproductive structure, with spore sacs on the upper surface, that produces spores for the fungal partner of a lichen. Plural: apothecia.
Ascending
Growing upward at an angle or curving upward from the base.
Foliose
Leaf-like; referring to lichens with thin, flat, leaf-like growths divided into lobes which are free from the substrate.
Rhizine
A root-like structure of a lichen that attaches the lower layer to the substrate.
Soredium
An asexual reproductive structure of a lichen in the form of a tiny dull granule on the thallus surface that can be easily brushed off. It consists of a cluster of algal cells (the photobiont) wrapped in fungal filaments (the mycobiont), but without an outer layer of protective tissue (cortex). Plural: soredia.
Thallus
In lichens: The vegetative body of a lichen composed of both the alga and the fungus. In liverworts: a flat, relatively undifferentiated plant body. Plural: thalli.
Visitor Photos |
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Alfredo Colon |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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| Vulpicida pinastri Amadej Trnkoczy |
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About
Vulpicida pinastri (Scop.) Mattson & Lai (Syn.: Centraria pinastri) Dat.: Nov. 10. 2008 Habitat: At the tree line, S faced steep alpine grassland, open space, partly exposed to sun and rain, precipitations ~3.000 mm/year, average temperature 2-4 deg C, elevation 1.900 m (6.200 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Place: South slopes of Mt.Prisojnik above Kranjska planina, Posocje, East Julian Alps, Slovenia EC |
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Other Videos |
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| Vulpicida pinastri, Oak creek overlook on Twin peaks trail, Ouray, Colorado. Mike's thoughts on plants. |
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About
Sep 6, 2021 9,300 feet in the moist valley of Oak creek with very steep walls. I thought it was sap at first. No apothecia, green yellow, on bark. |
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Visitor Sightings |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/10/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, MN |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/5/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, MN |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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Created: 1/16/2023
Last Updated: