Parmelia is a genus of medium to large foliose (leafy) lichens.[3]: 78  It has a global distribution, extending from the Arctic[4] to the Antarctic continent[5] but concentrated in temperate regions.[6] There are about 40 species in Parmelia.[7] In recent decades, the once large genus Parmelia has been divided into a number of smaller genera according to thallus morphology and phylogenetic relatedness.

Parmelia
Parmelia saxatilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Parmeliaceae
Genus: Parmelia
Ach. (1803)
Type species
Parmelia saxatilis
(L.) Ach. (1803)
Synonyms[1]

It is a foliaceous lichen, resembling a leaf in shape. The ends of the leaf-like lobes are often squarish-tipped.[3]: 78  The upper surface is pale bluish-gray to light brown in direct sunlight, with a network web-like ridges and depressions.: 78  The lower surface is black and has rhizines anchoring it to the substrate.[3]: 78  In general, Parmelia have a dark lower side with rhizines ('rootlets') that attach the lichen to its substrate. The upper side may be several colours - grey, yellow, brown - and may have reproductive organs on it. These may be apothecia (ascospore-producing bodies), isidia or soralia (both vegetative structures). In between these two layers is the medulla, which contains the algal component of the lichen.

Taxonomy

edit

Parmelia was circumscribed by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius in 1803.[8] His idea of the genus, which included foliose species with lecanorine apothecia, was quite broad and included species that are now dispersed in many different genera and families, such as the Peltigeraceae (Lobaria), the Pannariaceae (Pannaria, Parmeliella), the Physciaceae (Physcia, Heterodermia, Physconia), the Teloschistaceae (Xanthoria), as well as the Parmeliaceae (Cetraria, Hypogymnia, and Parmeliopsis). Its broad circumscription meant that almost every lichen with a thalline apothecial rim was included by 19th-century authors.[9]

In an attempt to create more homogeneous groups of taxa, lichenologists created new segregate genera for species once in Parmelia. These included Menegazzia (1854), Parmotrema (1860), Anzia (1861), Parmeliopsis (1869), Hypogymnia (1896), Pseudevernia (1903), Pannoparmelia (1912), and Pseudoparmelia (1914).[9] In the 1970s and 1980s, electron microscopy was used to help divide several Parmelia species groups into different genera based on the structure of their cortex. These include Arctoparmelia,[10] Bulbothrix, Canoparmelia, Cetrariastrum, Concamerella, Everniastrum, Flavoparmelia, Hypotrachyna, Neofuscelia, Paraparmelia, Parmelina, Parmotrema, Pseudoparmelia, Relicina, Relicinopsis, Xanthomaculina, and Xanthoparmelia. Another group of species was segregated on the basis of the presence of pseudocyphellae: Punctelia, Flavopunctelia, and Melanelia. In Mason Hale's 1987 monograph on Parmelia, he commented: "The group has been further subdivided ... now leaving in Parmelia a small, apparently irreducible assemblage of species typified by P. saxatilis".[9] In 2016, however, sixteen mostly Australasian species were moved to the new genus Notoparmelia; these species had been shown by molecular phylogenetic analysis to form a monophyletic lineage in Parmelia.[11]

Fossil record

edit

There are two foliose fossil taxa, Parmelia ambra and P. isidiiveteris, that have been placed provisionally in genus Parmelia due to their overall resemblance to members of this genus.[12] Later authors have suggested, however, that this generic placement is not appropriate for the current concept of Parmelia, and that because of the dearth of specimens available for analysis, it is impossible to know for certain which of the many foliose genera in the family Parmeliaceae is best suited for these fossils.[13][14]

Description

edit

Parmelia species have a foliose (leafy) thallus with a substrate attachment ranging from loose to tight. The lobes comprising the thallus are rounded, more or less straight, and may be contiguous or overlapping (imbricate). The texture of the upper thallus ranges from smooth to foveolate (covered with puts and depressions). The colour is typically green to whitish grey to greyish brown, and some species have a coating of pruina on the surface. Most species have pseudocyphellae (tiny pores that allow for gas exchange), and vegetative propagules such as isidia or soredia, or both. The lower surface of the thallus is black (or close to it), and has rhizines (either simple or branched) that function as holdfasts to attach it to its substrate. The cortex (botany) is paraplectenchymatous – a cell arrangement where the hyphae are oriented in all directions.[15]

The ascomata of Parmelia species are in the form of apothecia, which have a zeorine structure (an apothecium in which a proper exciple is enclosed in the thalline exciple) and are laminal (superficial on the surface) to somewhat stipitate. The exposed upper surface of the hymenium, the disc, is brown, rarely blackish. The asci are eight-spored, while the spores are colorless, ellipsoid, and measure 10–18 by 5–13 μm. The conidiomata are in the form of pycnidia; these black spots are laminal and immersed in the thallus surface. They produce dumbbell-shaped conidia with dimensions of 5.5–8 μm. The photobiont partners of Parmelia are green algae from the genera Asterochloris or Trebouxia.[15]

Photobionts

edit

Recent research has revealed insights into the ecological relationships between Parmelia lichens and their algal partners (photobionts). While earlier studies suggested that Parmelia species were highly selective in their choice of photobionts, a 2024 study revealed a more nuanced picture. By examining the genetic diversity of both fungi and algae at the species and haplotype (genetic variant) levels, the researchers found that some widespread Parmelia species, such as P. saxatilis and P. sulcata, exhibit more flexibility in their photobiont associations than previously thought. This adaptability may help explain these species' broad geographic distributions. The study also found that the mode of reproduction (whether through soredia or isidia, two types of vegetative propagules) did not significantly affect the specificity of fungal-algal partnerships.[16]

Ecology

edit

Parmelia lichens are food for the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the bagworm moth Taleporia tubulosa.[17]

Conservation

edit

Two species of Parmelia have been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature for the global IUCN Red List. Both Parmelia saxatilis and P. sulcata are considered species of least concern due to their widespread distribution, abundance, and stable populations.[18][19]

Distribution

edit

Eleven Parmelia species were recorded for Europe in 2008.[20] Nine occur in the Nordic lichen flora, of which P. saxatilis and P. sulcata are most common and widespread.[15]

Species

edit
 
Parmelia hygrophila
 
Parmelia omphalodes
 
Parmelia sulcata

References

edit
  1. ^ "Synonymy. Current Name: Parmelia Ach., Methodus, Sectio post. (Stockholmiæ): xxxiii, 153 (1803)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  2. ^ Massalongo, A.B. (1860). "Esame comparativo di alcune genere di licheni" [Comparative examination of some lichen genera]. Atti dell'Istituto Veneto Scienze. 5: 247–276.
  3. ^ a b c Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-19500-2
  4. ^ Skult H (1985) A New Subspecies of Parmelia omphalodes Ascomycetes Described from the Arctic. Annales Botanici Fennici 22, 201-6.
  5. ^ D.C. Lindsay (1973) Notes on Antarctic lichens: IV. The genera Cetraria Hoffm., Hypogymnia (Nyl.) Nyl., Menegazzia Massal, Parmelia Ach. and Platismatia Culb. et Culb. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin 36, 105-114.
  6. ^ Bisby, Guy Richard; Ainsworth, G. C.; Kirk, P. M.; Aptroot, André (2001). Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the fungi / by P. M. Kirk... [et al.]; with the assistance of A. Aptroot... [et al.] Oxon: CAB International. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-85199-377-5.
  7. ^ Ossowska, Emilia; Guzow-Krzemińska, Beata; Kolanowska, Marta; Szczepańska, Katarzyna; Kukwa, Martin (2019). "Morphology and secondary chemistry in species recognition of Parmelia omphalodes group – evidence from molecular data with notes on the ecological niche modelling and genetic variability of photobionts". MycoKeys. 61: 39–74. doi:10.3897/mycokeys.61.38175. PMC 6920222. PMID 31866741.
  8. ^ Acharius, E. (1803). Methodus qua Omnes Detectos Lichenes Secundum Organa Carpomorpha ad Genera, Species et Varietates Redigere atque Observationibus Illustrare Tentavit Erik Acharius (in Latin). Stockholm: Impensis F.D.D. Ulrich. p. 153.
  9. ^ a b c Hale 1987, p. 1.
  10. ^ Hale, M.E. (1986). "Arctoparmelia, a new lichen genus in the Parmeliaceae". Mycotaxon. 25 (1): 251–254.
  11. ^ Ferencova, Zuzana; Cubas, Paloma; Divakar, Pradeep Kumar; Molina, M. Carmen; Crespo, Ana (2014). "Notoparmelia, a new genus of Parmeliaceae (Ascomycota) based on overlooked reproductive anatomical features, phylogeny and distribution pattern". The Lichenologist. 46 (1): 51–67. doi:10.1017/S0024282913000649.
  12. ^ a b c Poinar, G. O.; Peterson, E. B.; Platt, J. L. (2000). "Fossil Parmelia in new world amber". The Lichenologist. 32 (3): 263–269. doi:10.1006/lich.1999.0258.
  13. ^ Beimforde, Christina; Feldberg, Kathrin; Nylinder, Stephan; Rikkinen, Jouko; Tuovila, Hanna; Dörfelt, Heinrich; Gube, Matthias; Jackson, Daniel J.; Reitner, Joachim; Seyfullah, Leyla J.; Schmidt, Alexander R. (2014). "Estimating the Phanerozoic history of the Ascomycota lineages: Combining fossil and molecular data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 78: 386–398. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.04.024. PMID 24792086.
  14. ^ Kaasalainen, Ulla; Heinrichs, Jochen; Krings, Michael; Myllys, Leena; Grabenhorst, Heinrich; Rikkinen, Jouko; Schmidt, Alexander R. (2015). Wilf, Peter (ed.). "Alectorioid morphologies in Paleogene lichens: new evidence and re-evaluation of the fossil Alectoria succini Mägdefrau". PLOS ONE. 10 (6): e0129526. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1029526K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129526. PMC 4460037. PMID 26053106.
  15. ^ a b c Thell, A.; Thor, G.; Ahti, T. (2011). "Parmelia". In Thell, Arne; Moberg, Roland (eds.). Nordic Lichen Flora. Vol. 4. Svenska Botaniska Föreningen. pp. 83–89. ISBN 978-91-85221-24-0.
  16. ^ Ossowska, Emilia Anna; Guzow-Krzemińska, Beata; Kukwa, Martin; Malíček, Jiří; Schiefelbein, Ulf; Thell, Arne; Kosecka, Magdalena (2024-08-24). "The application of haplotypes instead of species-level ranks modifies the interpretation of ecological preferences in lichen symbiont interactions in Parmelia". Scientific Reports. 14 (1): 19682. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-70667-1. PMC 11344855.
  17. ^ Yusuf, Mohd (2020). "A review on trends and opportuny in edible lichens". In Yusuf, Mohd (ed.). Lichen-Derived Products: Extraction and Applications. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-1-119-59171-9. OCLC 1182019542.
  18. ^ Yahr, R.; Allen, J.; Lymbery, C.; Batallas-Molina, R.; Bungartz, F.; Dal Forno, M.; Howe, N.; Lendemer, J.; McMullin, T.; Mertens, A.; Paquette, H.; Petix, M.; Reese Næsborg, R.; Roberts, F.; Sharrett, S.; Villella, J. (18 May 2021). "Parmelia saxatilis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  19. ^ Yahr, R.; Allen, J.; Lymbery, C.; Batallas-Molina, R.; Dal Forno, M.; Howe, N.; Lendemer, J.; McMullin, T.; Mertens, A.; Petix, M.; Reese Næsborg, R.; Roberts, F.; Sharrett, S.; Villella, J. (25 May 2021). "Bottle Brush Shield Lichen". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  20. ^ Hawksworth, David L.; Blanco, Oscar; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Ahti, Teuvo; Crespo, Ana (2008). "A first checklist of parmelioid and similar lichens in Europe and some adjacent territories, adopting revised generic circumscriptions and with indications of species distributions". The Lichenologist. 40 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1017/S0024282908007329.
  21. ^ a b Nylander, W. (1890). Lichenes Japoniae. Accedunt Observationibus Lichenes Insulae Labuan (in Latin). p. 28.
  22. ^ Lumbsch, H.T.; Ahti, T.; Altermann, S.; De Paz, G.A.; Aptroot, A.; Arup, U.; et al. (2011). "One hundred new species of lichenized fungi: a signature of undiscovered global diversity". Phytotaxa. 18 (1): 1–127. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.18.1.1. hdl:11336/4198.
  23. ^ Divakar, Pradeep K.; Molina, M. Carmen; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Crespo, Ana (2005). "Parmelia barrenoae, a new lichen species related to Parmelia sulcata (Parmeliaceae) based on molecular and morphological data". The Lichenologist. 37 (1): 37–46. doi:10.1017/S0024282904014641.
  24. ^ Brenner, M. (1886). "Bidrag till kännedom af Finska vikens övegetation. IV. Hoglands lafvar". Meddelanden af Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica (in Latin). 13: 40.
  25. ^ Molina, Maria del Carmen; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Millanes, Ana M.; Sánchez, Edinson; Del-Prado, Ruth; Hawksworth, David L.; Crespo, Ana (2011). "Parmelia sulcata (Ascomycota: Parmeliaceae), a sympatric monophyletic species complex". The Lichenologist. 43 (6): 585–601. doi:10.1017/S0024282911000521.
  26. ^ Feuerer, T.; Thell, A. (2002). "Parmelia ernstiae Feuerer & Thell – a new macrolichen from Germany". Mitteilungen aus dem Institut für Allgemeine Botanik Hamburg (in German). 30–32: 49–60.
  27. ^ Müller, J. (1887). "Lichenologische Beiträge XXVI". Flora (Regensburg) (in German). 70 (20): 316–322.
  28. ^ Goward, T.; Ahti, T. (1983). "Parmelia hygrophila, a new lichen species from the Pacific Northwest of North America". Annales Botanici Fennici. 20 (1): 9–13.
  29. ^ Divakar, Pradeep K.; Upreti, D.K.; Sinha, G.P.; Elix, John A. (2003). "New species and records in the lichen family Parmeliaceae (Ascomycota) from India". Mycotaxon. 88: 149–154.
  30. ^ a b Molina, M. Carmen; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Goward, Trevor; Millanes, Ana M.; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Crespo, Ana (2016). "Neogene diversification in the temperate lichen-forming fungal genus Parmelia (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)". Systematics and Biodiversity. 15 (2): 166–181. doi:10.1080/14772000.2016.1226977.
  31. ^ Øvstedal, D.O.; Lewis Smith, R.I. (2009). "Further additions to the lichen flora of Antarctica and South Georgia". Nova Hedwigia. 88 (1–2): 157–168. doi:10.1127/0029-5035/2009/0088-0157.
  32. ^ Molina, M. Carmen; Del-Prado, Ruth; Divakar, Pradeep Kumar; Sánchez-Mata, Daniel; Crespo, Ana (2011). "Another example of cryptic diversity in lichen-forming fungi: the new species Parmelia mayi (Ascomycota: Parmeliaceae)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 11 (5): 331–342. doi:10.1007/s13127-011-0060-4.
  33. ^ Hue, A.M. (1889). "Lichenes Yunnanenses a cl. Delavay praesertim annis 1886-1887, collectos, exponit A. M. Hue (1)". Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France (in Latin). 36: 164.
  34. ^ Nylander, W. (1885). "Parmeliae exoticae novae". Flora (Regensburg) (in Latin). 68: 605–615.
  35. ^ Hale 1987, p. 30.
  36. ^ Kurokawa, S. (1976). "A note on Parmelia omphalodes and its related species" (PDF). The Journal of Japanese Botany. 51 (12): 377–380.
  37. ^ Elix, John A.; Johnston, Jen (1988). "New species in the lichen family Parmeliaceae (Ascomycotina) from the southern hemisphere". Mycotaxon. 31 (2): 491–510.
  38. ^ Crespo, Ana; Rico, Víctor J.; Garrido, Elisa; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Divakar, Pradeep K. (2020). "A revision of species of the Parmelia saxatilis complex in the Iberian Peninsula with the description of P. rojoi, a new potentially relict species". The Lichenologist. 52 (5): 365–376. doi:10.1017/S0024282920000341.
  39. ^ Molina, María del Carmen; Crespo, Ana; Blanco, Oscar; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Hawksworth, David L. (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships and species concepts in Parmelia s. str. (Parmeliaceae) inferred from nuclear ITS rDNA and β-tubulin sequences". The Lichenologist. 36 (1): 37–54. doi:10.1017/S0024282904013933.
  40. ^ Hale 1987, p. 43.
  41. ^ Hale, M.E. (1971). "Parmelia squarrosa, a new species in section Parmelia". Phytologia. 22 (1): 29.
  42. ^ Mackay, J.T. (1836). Flora Hibernica. Vol. 2. Dublin: William Curry Junior & Company. p. 145.

Cited literature

edit