ITALIC 8.0

Evernia illyrica (Zahlbr.) Du Rietz

Svensk Bot. Tidskr., 20: 90, 1926. Basionym: Evernia divaricata subsp. illyrica Zahlbr. - Ann. K.K. naturhist. Hofmus. Wien, 19: 418, 1904.

Synonyms: Letharia illyrica (Zahlbr.) Harm.

Distribution: S - Cal (Puntillo & Vezda 1994, Puntillo 1995, 1996).

Description: Thallus fruticose, attached with a basal holdfast, pendulous, up to 30 cm long, not dorsiventral, grey to whitish grey on all sides, matt, richly but irregularly branched, with mostly obtuse axils, the main branches mostly parallel, sometimes entangled, subterete to angular, soft, 0.5-1,5(-3.5) mm wide, smooth or with shallow longitudinal grooves, with scattered side branches, the tips sometimes darkened, subulate or abruptly acuminate. Cortex thin, of anticlinally arranged, small-celled hyphae, often degenerating in places, frequently cracking transversely in old specimens, exposing the medulla; medulla lax, more or less arachnoid but often coherent as a very soft central strand. Apothecia rare, lecanorine, sessile, lateral on the main branches, up to 4 mm across, with a brown, flat disc and a thin thalline margin. Asci 8-spored, clavate, the K/I+ blue tholus penetrated by a faintly amyloid apical cushion with parallel or diverging flanks, the wall K/I-, surrounded by a K/I+ blue outer layer, Lecanora-type. Ascospores 1-celled, hyaline, ellipsoid, c. 7 x 4 µm, often poorly developed. Pycnidia terminal on short side branches. Photobiont chlorococcoid. Spot tests: cortex K+ bright yellow, C-, KC-, P-. Chemistry: cortex with atranorin, medulla with divaricatic acid.

Note: a Mediterranean-montane species found in humid beech-fir forests. An earlier record from Venezia Giulia cited by Nimis (1993: 294) is excluded, being from Slovenian territory (Tarnova, near Gorizia). It is included in the Italian red list of epiphytic lichens as “Endangered” (Nascimbene & al. 2013c).

Growth form: Fruticose

Substrata: bark

Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia

Reproductive strategy: mainly asexual, by thallus fragmentation

Most common in areas with a humid-warm climate (e.g. most of Tyrrenian Italy)

Commonnes-rarity: (info)

Alpine belt: absent

Subalpine belt: absent

Oromediterranean belt: absent

Montane belt: extremely rare

Submediterranean belt: absent

Padanian area: absent

Humid submediterranean belt: absent

Humid mediterranean belt: absent

Dry mediterranean belt: absent

pH of the substrata:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Solar irradiation:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Aridity:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Eutrophication:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Poleotolerance:

0

1

2

3

(info)

Altitudinal distribution:

1

2

3

4

5

6

(info)

Predictive model

Herbarium samples

Index Fungorum GBIF

Harrie Sipman Harrie Sipman – (Sipman 54524); picture length = 7 mm.