Minnesota Seasons - Smooth Axil-bristle Lichen

Conservation • Description • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Smooth Axil-bristle Lichen is a small to medium-sized lichen that grows on the bark of deciduous trees, rarely on rock. The vegetative body (thallus) is leaf-like (foliose) and divided into lobes. It is attached to the substrate (bark) by abundant, uniformly distributed, black, usually unbranched, anchoring structures (rhizines). The lobes are 1 ⁄32″ to 1 ⁄16″ (0.8 to 2 mm) in diameter, flat, and closely appressed to the substrate. The upperside is pale gray to bluish-gray and wrinkled or corrugated in the center. The surface has neither powdery dull granules (soredia) nor shiny granules (isidia). The underside is black. There are short, black, hair-like appendages in the axils of the lobes and sometimes also on the margins. These may not be visible without a hand lens. The interior of the thallus is divided into two layers. The lower layer (medulla) is yellowish, though this may be difficult to see except under the apothecia. Disk-like, spore-producing structures (apothecia) are usually abundant. The disks are 1 ⁄16″to 3 ⁄16″ in diameter, reddish-brown, and shaped like a plate. Each disk has a ring of tissue around it that resembles the tissue of the vegetative (non-fruiting) part of the lichen.

	Similar Species
	Powdery Axil-bristle Lichen (Myelochroa aurulenta) has dull, powdery granules (soredia) on the surface that can be easily brushed off. Rock Axil-bristle Lichen (Myelochroa obsessa) grows only on rocks. The surface is somewhat shiny and is covered with shiny granules (isidia).


	Ecology
	Substrate
	Trees

	Growth Form
	Foliose

	Habitat
	Open woods, roadsides.

	Hosts
	Hardwood trees.


	Distribution
			Sources 4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.
	5/30/2022

	Occurrence
	Common in eastern United States and in northern Minnesota


	Taxonomy
	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	Myelochroa
	Mycobiont	Myelochroa galbina
	Photobiont

	Synonyms
	Parmelina galbina

	Common Names
	Smooth Axil-bristle Lichen

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.

Foliose

Adjective: Leaf-like growth form; referring to lichens with leaf-like growths divided into lobes.
Noun: The leaf-like, vegetative body of a lichen (thallus) that has thin, flat lobes which are free from the substrate.

Isidium

An asexual reproductive structure of a lichen consisting of a cluster of algal cells (the photobiont) wrapped in fungal filaments (the mycobiont) and enclosed within a layer of protective tissue (cortex). Plural: insidia.

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

The vegetative body of a lichen composed of both the alga and the fungus.


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	Alfredo Colon




	Honey Fae (Farah)




	Luciearl









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Alfredo Colon 8/18/2022	Location: Albany, NY



Honey Fae (Farah) 7/24/2022	Location: Hennepin County



Luciearl 1/4/2020	Location: Fairview Twp, Cass County



Luciearl 1/1/2020	Location: Fairview Twp, Cass County



Luciearl 8/29/2018	Location: Cass County



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Cleary Lake Regional Park