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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Fringed Pelt Lichen - Peltigera pacifica

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Species of Concern
Native Species

Global Rank: G3G4
State Rank: S1
(see State Rank Reason below)


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

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State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Known from one location in western Montana, but expected to be more present.
 
General Description
Thallus foliose, to 15 cm diameter or more; lobes mostly about 0.5-1.0 cm broad; upper surface gray or brownish gray, smooth, shiny, lacking tomentum; lobe margins mostly upturned; veins dark, broad, and low to somewhat raised, contrasting with the pale interstices, paler near the margins; rhizines slender, mostly unbranched; primary photobiont blue-green; lobe margins and cracks usually with abundant lobules; soredia and isidia lacking; apothecia on rasied narrow lobes; and spot tests negative (McCune and Geiser 2009).

Diagnostic Characteristics
Distinctive in the generally abundant marginal lobules, narrow lobes, and glabrous upper surface. It frequently has a disheveled appearance, with a partailly discolored upper surface and margins partially consumed by herbivores. P. elisabethae also has a smooth, shiny upper surface and lobules, but it has strongly confluent, indistinct veins and has rhizines arranged in concentric rows (McCune and Geiser 2009).

Range Comments
Coastal Alaska to Oregon, mainly western Cascade Mountains, rarely inland to western Montana (McCune and Geiser 2009).

Habitat
On mossy rocks, logs, and soil.

Ecology
Photobiont: cyanobacteria (nitrogen-fixer).

Reproductive Characteristics
Reproduces sexually by spores from the apothecium.

References
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Citation for data on this website:
Fringed Pelt Lichen — Peltigera pacifica.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from