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''Vermilacinia leopardina'' is a fruticose lichen usually that grows abundantly on the branches of shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America, in the Channel Islands and on the mainland of California from Santa Barbara County south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula of Baja California.〔Spjut, R. W. 1996. ''Niebla'' and ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California. Sida〕 The species is also reported to occur in Chile, based on a single specimen mounted on a large index card off to one corner with the type (biology) of ''Usnea tumidula'' (variant of ''V. ceruchis''〔) in the center and bottom (plate 45.2 in Spjut 1996〔); it is possible that the specimen of ''V. leopardina'' was from North America and placed on the card for the purpose of making a comparison to the type for ''Usnea tumidula'', which was annotated ''Ramalina ceruchis'' var. ''gracilior'' Muell.Arg., a name of uncertain status.〔 The epithet, ''leopardina'', is in reference to the black transverse bands and irregularly shaped black spots commonly seen on the thallus branches that obviously imply a similarity to the leopard animal, while also making comparative distinctions to other black banded species: ''V. tigrina'' and ''V. zebrina'', obviously to a tiger and zebra, and to ''V. leonis'', obviously a lion, which has no black stripes. ==Distinguishing Features== ''Vermilacinia leopardina'' is classified in the subgenus ''Cylindricaria'' in which it is distinguished from related species by thallus divided into narrow tubular branches that often bear saucer shaped to slightly cup-shaped apothecia just below the apex; a short spine-like branch often extends from the apothecia. The branches often have irregularly shaped black spots and regularly shaped black transverse bands that appear to constrict the thallus branches where they develop. The bands are thought to be a fasciation of the pycnidia as a result of aborting development.〔 This is contrast to the pycnidia〔Pycnidium (pycnidia plural) is a small flash-shaped structure (200–300 µm wide near the base) that produces conidia, which escape through an opening (ostiole) at the top and function in reproduction, asexually or sexually〕 in ''V. nylanderi'' that are abundantly produced but hardly conspicuous because they are immersed in the cortex but evident by the bump-like elevated area of the cortical surface; their abundance is conspicuous when the thallus is sectioned and examined under a microscope. Also, pycnidia in ''V. nylanderi'' are abundantly fertile; i.e., they produce what appear to be viable conidia (condium singular), which “are specialized, non-motile fungal spores,” that appear to function as re-establishing the lichen with an “appropriate photobiont,” a form of asexual reproduction,〔Bungartz, F. 2002. Morphology and anatomy of conidia-producing structures, Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 1: 35–40〕 in contrast to “sterile pycnidia (conidia not evident) in ''V. leopardina''. Conidia may also to function as “male gametes (spermatia)”〔Sanders, W. B. 2014. Complete life cycle of the lichen fungus ''Calopadia puiggarii'' (Pilocarpaceae, Ascomycetes) documented in situ: Propagule dispersal, establishment of symbiosis, thallus development, and formation of sexual and asexual reproductive structures. Amer. J. Bot. , online ahead of print, 30 Oct 2014〕 Both species contain lichen substances zeorin and (-)-16-hydroxykaurane without other substances, a T3 compound occasionally present in ''V. nylanderi''., which usually lacks black bands on its branches〔 ''Vermilacinia leopardina'' resembles ''V. tigrina'' in the black banded branches when the bands are present in ''V. tigrina''. They differ more by the lichen substances. ''Vermilacinia tigrina''—first described from thalli in South America that grew on soil on Cerro Moreno in the Antofagasta Province of Chile—was distinguished by having the lichen substance psoromic acid,〔Follmann, G. 1966. Eine neue ''Ramalina''-Art uas der Ceruches-Gruppe. Willdenowia 4(2): 225–233.〕 which is a minor constituent to the terpenoid compounds, while it was also distinguished from other related species that produce methyl, 3,5 dichlorolecnorate (tumidulin). Subsequently, the species circumscription of ''V. tigrina'' was broadened to include thalli in North America that had additional lichens substances of depsidones—hypoprotocetraric acid, salazinic acid, nortstictic acid, or hypoprotocetraric acid—which a thallus may have anyone of the depsidones accessory to the terpenoid compounds zeorin and (-)-16-hydroxykaurane that are constantly present.〔 ''Vermilacinia leopardina'' differs in being deficient in depsidones.〔 ''Vermilacinia leopardina'' may appear to intergrade morphologically with ''V. corrugata'';〔Rundel, P., P. A. Bowler and T. W. Mulroy. 1972. A fog-induced lichen community in northwestern Baja California, with two new species of ''Desmazieria''. The Bryologist 75: 501–508, p.504, “typical smooth, shiny and irregularly blackened thalli of ''D. ceruchis'' in central California intergrade into a larger lacunose form in Baja Califonirnia. Both morphologies are present at Bahía de San Quintín.”〕 however, the species are easily distinguished by differences in the lichen terpenoid substances.〔 On the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, ''Vermilacinia leopardina'' occurs nearer the ocean or where fog lingers more during the day, in contrast to ''V. corrugata'', lacking (-)-16-hydroxykaurane, occurring where there is less moisture from fog, such as near the perimeter of the fog zone.〔 ''Vermilacinia leopardina'' was described in 1996,〔 but also has been perceived to be a synonym (taxonomy) under an extremely broad species and genus concept; one that essentially combines all species of ''Vermilacinia'' that grow on trees and shrubs, including two sorediate species, under one species name, ''Niebla ceruchis'',〔Bowler, P. and J. Marsh. 2004. ''Niebla''. ‘Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert' 2: 368–380〕 an epithet that is based on a type (biology) specimen for a species interpreted to grow on earth in South America, recognized as ''Vermilacinia ceruchis'', one that is also endemic to South America.〔Spjut R. W. 1995. ''Vermilacinia'' (Ramalinaceae, Lecanorales), a new genus of lichens. In: Flechten Follmann; Contr. Lichen in honor of Gerhard Follmann; F. J. A. Daniels, M. Schulz & J. Peine, eds., Koeltz Scientific Books: Koenigstein, pp. 337-351.〕 The listing of seven different species names under “''Niebla ceruchis''” that includes ''V. leopardina'', for example as one synonym (biology) of the seven synonyms does not mean that they are equal to ''N. ceruchis'', as sometimes indicated on web sites and in literature,〔Enlichenment, “''Niebla ceruchis''”, three images, Palos Verdes Bluffs, Bluff Cove; top image shows thallus with lobes enlarged terminally, a characteristic feature of ''Vermilacinia cerebra'', the lower two images show yellow green thalli with soralia, characteristic traits of ''Vermilacinia zebrina''; these names are not synonymous as may be envisioned in the Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert 2: 372 (2004), while one may also continue to debate whether they represent two different species, or just one species; accessed 6 December 2014; http://www.waysofenlichenment.net/lichens/Niebla%20ceruchis.〕 especially when the listing of synonyms provide no scientific basis for reaching such a conclusion, and when the species already had been substantiated as distinct by their differences in morphology, chemistry, ecology, and geography.〔 The genus ''Vermilacinia'' is distinguished from ''Niebla'' by the absence of chondroid strands in the medulla,〔Chondroid strands in the genus ''Niebla'' appear as tiny threads or cords running lengthwise in the medulla, interconnected diagonally or crosswise by other freely branched solitary hyphal cells. There are usually many such cords in the ''Niebla'' medulla. The medulla of ''Vermilacinia'' subgenus ''Cylindricaria'' has long flexible hyphal cells united at frequent intervals into knots. They are referred to as fascicles of hyphal cells. There are many such fascicles in a single medulla. It appears that when a thallus takes in moisture, the hyphal cells bend outwards, and as they dry they come together. Medulla hyphae in a herbarium specimen may lose elasticity over time, and all the fascicles may appear as a single cord〕 and by the major lichen substance predominantly of terpenes.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vermilacinia leopardina」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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