Hooded Sunburst Lichen

(Oxneria fallax)

Conservation Status
Hooded Sunburst Lichen
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Hooded Sunburst Lichen is a widespread and very common lichen. It occurs throughout Europe and across North America. It is very common in Minnesota. It grows on bark on the trunks of deciduous trees in humid to moderately dry conditions. It rarely grows on rock or on detritus on the ground. It forms rosettes ¾ to 1½ in diameter that are bilaterally symmetric. Adjacent rosettes often fuse together into large colonies.

The vegetative body (thallus) is leaf-like (foliose) and divided into small branches (lobes). It grows closely or loosely attached to the substrate (wood or bark) but does not have root-like structures (rhizines). The lobes are flat to convex, rounded to straight across (truncate) at the tip, and 1 32 to 1 16 (0.8 to 2.0 mm) wide. The upper surface is smooth to shiny and deep orange where exposed to the sun, orangish-red to reddish-orange in partially shaded areas, and pale greenish-yellow in deep shade. Tiny reproductive structures (soralia), appearing as horizontal, crescent-shaped slits, are formed on the margins at the tips of the lobes. The soralia produce powdery, greenish-yellow clusters of cells (soredia). The soredia are dispersed by wind and rain, and can form new rosettes when they land on a suitable surface. The lower surface of the thallus is white to yellow and somewhat wrinkled. Rarely there are short, white, peg-like structures (hapters) attaching the thallus to the substrate.

Disk-like, spore-producing structures (apothecia) are rarely produced. When present, the disks are stalked, orange, up to (2.5 mm) in diameter, and shaped like a plate. They are smooth at first but often become rough and develop a ring hairs on the margin. Each disk has a ring of tissue around it that resembles the tissue of the thallus.

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Substrate

 
 

Trees

 
     
 

Growth Form

 
 

Foliose

 
     
 

Habitat

 
 

Bark of deciduous trees

 
     
 

Hosts

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77, 81.

 
  7/9/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Very common and widespread

 
         
 
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

Teloschistales (sunburst lichens and allies)  
 

Suborder

Teloschistineae  
 

Family

Teloschistaceae (sunburst lichens, firedots, and allies)  
  Subfamily Xanthorioideae  
 

Genus

Oxneria  
  Mycobiont Oxneria fallax  
  Photobiont    
       
 

This species was originally named Physcia fallax in 1858. In 1860 it was moved to Xanthoria fallax, in 2002 to Xanthomendoza fallax, and in 2003 to Oxneria fallax. Today, many sources continue to use Xanthoria fallax, but most now use Xanthomendoza fallax. Few use Oxneria fallax, though Index Fungiforum does, and that should be the last word (or at least the current word) on the subject,.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Physcia fallax

Placodium fallax

Xanthomendoza fallax

Xanthoria fallax

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Hooded Sunburst 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.

 

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

 
    Hooded Sunburst Lichen   Hooded Sunburst Lichen  
 

Luciearl

 
    Hooded Sunburst Lichen      
           
 
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Other Videos
 
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About

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  Xanthomendoza fallax Top #5 Facts
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About

Published on Feb 1, 2016

   

 

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  Luciearl
1/20/2020

Location: Cass County

Hooded Sunburst Lichen  
  Alfredo Colon
8/15/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

Hooded Sunburst Lichen  
  Alfredo Colon
8/2/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

Hooded Sunburst Lichen  
           
 
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Created: 5/20/2019

Last Updated:

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