Membranous Pelt Lichen

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NNR - Unranked

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Lichens in the genus Peltigera are called pelt lichens or dog lichens. There are 31 Peltigera species in the United States. Nineteen species have been recorded in Minnesota. Identifying them to the species level is often problematic, usually requiring a field guide and sometimes requiring magnification.

Membranous Pelt Lichen is a large dog lichen. It occurs in Europe, Asia, and North America. In the United States it occurs in the east from Maine to Massachusetts, west to Minnesota, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to South Carolina. In the west it occurs west of the Rocky Mountains from northern Washington to central California, and south along the Rocky Mountains from Montana to Arizona. In Minnesota it occurs in the northern third of the state. It is found in moderately moist forests and other damp shady areas. It grows on mossy rocks and boulders, on bark at the base of tree trunks or on rotten logs, and on damp soil, including lawns.

The vegetative body (thallus) is leaf-like (foliose) and 2″ to 6″ (5 to 15 cm) in diameter. When it first appears, it grows with a roughly circular form. As it ages it disintegrates into irregular groups of elongated and more or less flattened lobes. The lobes are thin, flexible, ⅜″ to ¾″ (1 to 2 cm) wide, up to 1½″ (4 cm) long, and often forked. The tips are rounded or almost straight across, often ascending, and often wavy. The upper surface is wrinkled, with long raised areas separated by narrow channels. It is densely covered with downy or felty hairs when young, but these wear off with age. When wet it is bluish-gray or blackish-green, transparent, and often whitish at the edges. When dry it is gray or bluish-gray to brown and opaque. Isidia and soredia are not produced. The lower surface is white, is densely covered with white hairs, and shows a network of pale raised veins that rejoin after branching (anastomosing).

The lobes are attached to the soil at occasional points by scattered anchoring structures (rhizines). The rhizines are long, slender, unbranched, tapered, and white to pale brown. They are covered with short thick hairs (hyphae) that mat together when wet. When dry, the hyphae spread out almost to right angles, giving the rhizine a bottle-brush appearance, but this requires a hand lens to see. The rhizine is said to resemble a dog’s fang tooth. This is the feature that gives the genus one of its common names.

Sexual (spore-producing) reproductive structures (apothecia) on the margins of the thallus are frequent. The apothecia are up to ¼″ (6 mm) in diameter, oblong to more or less round, and curved inward, appearing saddle shaped. The disc is flat, smooth, and bright brownish-orange, becoming dark brown to black with age.

Ground

Foliose

Over mosses on rock, bark, and soil

Sources

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

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Location: Fairview Twp, Cass Co.