Field Dog Lichen

(Peltigera rufescens)

Conservation Status
Field Dog Lichen
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Field Dog Lichen lichen grows on the ground in full sun in fields and sandy areas.

The vegetative bodies (thallus) are leaf-like (foliose) with broad, upturned lobes. They look like dog’s ears, giving the lichen its common name.

They are attached to the soil at occasional points by tufted or fibrous, anchoring structures (rhizines). The upper surface is dark brownish-gray at the base, fading to bluish-gray then ash-gray at the margins, and densely covered with minute, felty hairs. The undersurface is brownish and densely covered with white hairs. The margins are wavy or crinkled.

The rhizines are white near the margins of the lobes and dark brown away from the margins.

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Alternating Dog Lichen (Peltigera didactyla) thallus upper surface has round, pale, blue-gray, granular patches. All of the rhizines are whitish.

Dog Lichen (Peltigera caninna) has larger, to 1 wide lobes.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Substrate

 
 

Ground

 
     
 

Growth Form

 
 

Foliose

 
     
 

Habitat

 
 

Fields, roadsides, hiking trails. Full or partial sun. Sandy soil.

 
     
 

Hosts

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 7, 26, 29, 30, 77, 81.

 
  7/8/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Widespread and common

 
         
 
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

Peltigerales  
 

Suborder

Peltigerineae  
 

Family

Peltigeraceae  
 

Genus

Peltigera (pelt lichens)  
  Mycobiont Peltigera rufescens  
  Photobiont Nostoc  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Felt Lichen

Field Dog Lichen

Field Dog-lichen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Apothecia

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.

 

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.

 

Mycobiont

The fungal partner of a lichen.

 

Photobiont

The photosynthetic partner of a lichen; either green algae or cyanobacteria.

 

Rhizine

A root-like structure of a lichen that attaches the lower layer to the substrate.

 

Thallus

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

 
 
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    Field Dog Lichen      

 

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Other Videos
 
  A Lichen of red mountain pass area. Peltigera rufescens
Mike's thoughts on plants.
 
   
 
About

Jul 25, 2021

Moist sites on humus (swampy) which is not the same as the dirt loving Peltigeras of Ouray and Ridgway, Colorado.

 

 

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