Thamnolia vermicularis var. vermicularis
Common name
Whiteworm lichen
Synonyms
Cerania vermicularis, Lichen subuliformis, Lichen vermicularis, Thamnolia subuliformis, Thamnolia vermicularis var. subuliformis
Family
Icmadophilaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Fruticose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the terricolous habit; the straggling, unattached thallus of white, prostrate, terete, hollow, worm-like stems, that are simple or forked, 1-4 cm long.
Distribution
North Island: Gisborne (Raukumara Ranges), Wellington (Kaimanawa Mountains, Ruahine Ranges, Tararua Ranges). South Island: Nelson (Lake Cobb, Lookout Range, Mt Arthur, St Arnaud Ranges), Marlborough (Mt Stokes, Rachel Range, Island Saddle, Mt Fyffe), Canterbury (Temple Basin, Craigieburn Ranges, Torlesse Range, Sebastopol), Otago (Rock & Pillar Range), Southland (Fiordland). Stewart Island: (Mt Anglem).
Most richly developed in the mountains of eastern South Island, from the Torlesse Range to Maungatua.
Cosmopolitan.
Habitat
On soil, among mosses, or grass in alpine or subalpine grassland, herbfield and fellfield, both east and west of the Main Divide. Also found in drylands.
Detailed description
Thallus of straggling, prostrate, terete, hollow, worm-like stems, that are simple or forked, 1-4 cm long. Surface smooth, matt, white or greyish-white, becoming pinkish on storage.
Chemistry: Two chemodemes present: (1) Medulla K+ yellow, C−, KC−, Pd+ orange, UV−; containing thamnolic acid. (2) Medulla K− or pale-yellowish, C−, KC−, Pd+ yellowish, cortex UV+ golden-yellow; medulla UV+ blue-white; containing baeomycesic and squamatic acids. Thamnolic acid (UV−) chemodemes have a tendency to turn pinkish on long storage in the herbarium, while the UV+ chemodeme does not.
Several lichenicolous fungi occur on Thamnolia vermicularis and in the past these infections were often mistaken for ascomata. The following lichenicolous fungi are known as parasymbionts of Thamnolia: *Cercidospora thamnoliicola Ihlen (Ihlen 1995), *Polycoccum vermicularium (Linds.) D.Hawksw., *Stigmidium frigidum (Sacc.) Alstrup & D.Hawksw., *Thamnogalla cromiei (Mudd.) D. Hawksw.
Similar taxa
The infertile stalks (podetia) of some species of Cladonia look similar, but they tend to be attached, erect and straight, whereas Thamnolia stems are pure white, prostrate, and often straggling or entangled.
Substrate
Terricolous
The UV− chemodeme is more common in the Southern Hemisphere than it is in the Northern Hemisphere (Satô 1965: 324). In New Zealand it has an altitudinal range from 287 m (Conroy’s Gully near Alexandra) to 3000 m (Mt Aspiring) and is most richly developed in the mountains of eastern South Island, from the Torlesse Range to the Blue Mountains. In this latter locality, exceptionally well-developed thalli occur reaching 12–15 cm in length. The UV+ chemodeme is much rarer in New Zealand (Satô 1965: 324) ranging from the St Arnaud Ranges to Mt Anglem on Stewart Island. This chemodeme is much more common in the Northern Hemisphere than it is in the Southern Hemisphere (Satô 1965), though in arctic North America both chemodemes appear to be equally distributed (Thomson 1984; Brodo et al. 2001).
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (5 September 2021). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Extra information sections copied from Galloway (1985, 2007).
References and further reading
Brodo I.M., Sharnoff S.D. & Sharnoff, S. 2001: Lichens of North America. New Haven & London,Yale University Press. 795 pp.
Galloway D.J. 1985: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens. Wellington: PD Hasselberg, Government Printer. 662 pp.
Galloway D.J. 2007: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens, including lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi. 2nd edition. Lincoln, Manaaki Whenua Press. 2261 pp.
Satô M. 1965: Mixture ratio of the lichen genus Thamnolia in New Zealand. Bryologist 68: 320-324.
Thomson J.W. 1984: American Arctic lichens 1. The macrolichens. New York, Columbia University Press. 504 pp.