Numerous collections of lichens have been made during the past several years from a variety of habitats in Boone and Webster counties. This progress report summarizes some of the authors\u27 general observations on the lichen flora of this area

Juhl, Karen K.

Tiffany, Lois H.

Name not available

Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, Iowa

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 70 Annual Issue Article 15 1963 Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, Iowa Karen K. Juhl Iowa State University Lois H. Tiffany Iowa State University Let us know how access to this document benefits you Copyright ©1963 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Juhl, Karen K. and Tiffany, Lois H. (1963) "Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, Iowa," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 70(1), 68-70. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol70/iss1/15 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, Iowa KAREN K. JUHL and Lms H. TIFFANY1 Abstract. Numerous collections of lichens have been made during the past several years from a variety of habitats in Boone and Webster counties. This progress report summarizes some of the authors' general observations on the lichen flora of this area. In contrast with the records of many groups of plants, little information is available concerning the lichen flora of central Iowa. Fink and King collected in the area, especially at the Ledges, in the summer of 1903. These collections were listed by Miller ( 1) and are in the Iowa State University herbarium. Bessey ( 2), in a preliminary list of cryptograms occurring within a radius of 20 miles of Ames, included 24 species of lichens. It seems probable that a least a portion of these may have been collected in the Ledges area. More recently, Juhl ( 3) reported on the larger and more prevalent lichens in the central area. Since then, numerous collections have been made at various sites in Boone and Webster counties. The sandstone outcrops forming the "ledges" at Ledges State Park are also a prominent topographic feature at Dolliver and Woodman Hollow State Parks. These rocks support three dis-tinct groups of lichens. On dry, exposed sandstone sites, 24 species in 12 genera of crustose lichens have been collected. In areas where the rock face was moistened by seepage or by the close proximity to a stream, four species in two closely related genera of foliose lichens were the common inhabitants. Both of these genera, Collema and Leptogium, have blue-green algal associates. In sheltered sites where the rock was weathered into coarse soil or where soil had washed onto the rock, species of Cladonia were well developed. Two larger lichens, both fruiticose, have been collected from sandstone at the Ledges. U snea and Ramalina were first reported by Bessey in 1884 and later by Miller. No additional collections of these genera have been recorded since the Fink and King col-lections in the summer of 1903. Observations of a somewhat limited number of specimens on granite boulders from the Wisconsin glacial drift sheet revealed that the lichen flora on this substrate seems to be a group of crus-tose lichens similar to those occurring on sandstone. 1 Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Iowa State University, Ames 68 1Juhl and Tiffany: Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, IowaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 19631963] NOTES ON LICHEN FLORA 69 The bark of trees supports a varied flora of crustose and foliose lichens. Four genera of foliose lichens and 13 genera of crustose lichens have been collected. Although a greater variety of crus-tose lichens was found, foliose lichens were much more obvious because of the number of species of Physcia developing on bark. Sing1e species of Physcia are found on a wide range of woody hosts. In contrast to this situation, tree-inhabiting species of Xanthoria and Caloplaca are quite host specific, occurring only on species of Populus. Species of Cladonia and Peltigera, both large lichens, com-monly grow on soil in sunny, exposed sites. They occur inter-mingled with mosses, and are invariably present in dry cuts and on hilltops in undisturbed areas. Parmelia thalli may also be found in such places, but fruiting structures are not often formed on the thalli in such sites. Toninia may also be found on the soil or as an epiphyte on mosses. The lichen thalli examined in the course of these studies were quite variable in external form and extent under various environ-mental conditions, as would be expected. The ascocarps of the lichen fungi are quite stable, and may be a useful and stable feature for identification and delimitation of species, especially under environmental conditions where the traditional distinctions of crustose, fruticose and foliose thallus form ( 4,5) is obscured or modified. The following key to the genera encountered thus fru: in this study is an attempt to indicate how ascocarp features may be thus utilized in identification. 1. Podetia present ,thallus two-fold of primary crustose thallus which often disappears, secondary thallus of erect podetia) and usually hollow ---Cladonia 1. Podetia absent---2 2. Fruiting structures unknown, thallus very rudimentary---Crocynia 2. Fruiting structures known, thallus usually of definite fonn---3 3. Asci borne in a perithecium or a locule---4 4. Asci borne separately in individual locules in a stroma ---Art hot helium 4. Asci in groups---5 5. Ascospores non-septate---6 6. Thallus foliose, ascocarp wall light in color, ascocarps completely immersed ---Dermatocarpon 6. Thallus crustose---7 7. Ascospores thcik walled ---Pertusa_ria 7. Ascospore thin walled, ascocarp opening by a small pore to becomn1;g open and disclike ---V errucaria 5. Ascospores septate---8 8. Ascospore with transverse septa only ---Pyrenula 8. Ascospores with rtansverse and longitudinal septa ---Endocarpon 3. Asci borne in an apothecium 9. Apothecia elongate to linear, black, embedded in thallus ---1~ 10. Hymenium with true paraphyses ---Graphis 10. Branched and anastomosing pseudoparaphyses ---Opegrapha 2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 70 [1963], No. 1, Art. 15https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol70/iss1/1570 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIEN E [Vol. 70 9. Apothecia generally rounded, not linear---11 11. Asci soon breaking down, ascospore released in a mass, ascocarp stalked ---Calicium 11. Asci persistent---12 12. Ascospores non-septate---13 13. TI1allus foliose or fruticose---14 14. Thallus fruticose, usually with central solid core ---Usnea 14. Thallus foliose---15 15. Lower side of thallus jet black, rhizoids present ---Parmelia 15. Lower side of thallus buff, tan or white ---Candelaria 13. Thallus crustosc---16 16. Spores very large, 1 or 2 per ascus---Mycoblastus 16. Spores not large, at least 8 ascosporcs per ascus--17 17. Asci never more than 8-psored, thallus rarely yellow ---Lscaiwra 17. Asci polysporous, spores minute ---Acarospo ra 12. Ascospores septate---18 18. Ascospores generally with a single transverse septum---19 19. Ascospores polarilocular----20 20. Ascospores hyaline 21. Thallus typically foliose to squamulose, usually on trees ---Xanthoria 21. Thallus crustose ---Caloplaca 20. Ascospores pigmented 22. Thallus foliose, usually on trees ---Physcia 22. Thallus crustosc---2.3 23. Thalline exciple present ---Rinodina 23. Proper exciple only ---Buellia 19. Ascospores not polarilocular ---Lecidea 18. Ascospores with more than 1 transverse septum---24 24. Ascospores with I-several transverse septa---25 2.5. Large foliose thallus, on soil commonly ---Peltigera 25. Thal!us crustose----26 26. Thallus warty, squamulose or coralloid ---Toninia 26. Thallus crustose, smooth ---Bacidia 24. Ascospores with both longitudinal an dtransverse septa---27 27. Thall us foliose, dull, black or brown, upper cortex absent or :1t most poorly developed---Collema 27. Thallus shiny, typically slate-blue, rarely dark brown; upper cortex distinct, cellular --Leptogium Literature Cited 1. Miller, Katy A. 1903. Proc .Iowa Acad. Sci. 11: 139-146. 2. Bessey, Charles E. 1884. Iowa State Coll., Ames, Dept. of Botany Bulle-tin Nov.: 142-143. 3. Juhl, Karen. 1961. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 68: 132-138. 4. Fink, Bruce. 1935. The lichen flora of the United States. Univ. Mich. Press, Ann Arbor. 5. Hale, Mason E., Jr. and W. L. Culberson. 1960. Bryol. 63:137-172. 3Juhl and Tiffany: Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, IowaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1963

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Notes on the Lichen Flora of Boone and Webster Counties, Iowa

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