Key to Cladina and Cladonia
on the
Queen Charlotte Islands and neighboring areas
by Irwin M. Brodo and Teuvo Ahti
Prepared in 1995
Download this key in Microsoft Word 97 format
(more compact format, also with hyperlinks)
Species in bold occur in the area. Species in brackets have not yet been found in the area.
key to Cladonia1. Thallus PD+ red, fumarprotocetraric acid present 2
1. Thallus PD-, or PD+ yellow, fumarprotocetraric acid absent 5
2. Podetia greenish yellow, podetial surface smooth, thallus K-, atranorin absent, branching divergent. 3
2. Podetia grey, podetial surface webby, or verruculose, thallus K+ pale yellow, atranorin present, branching falcate. 4
3. Branching mainly in dichotomies, pycnidial jelly red [Cladina ciliata]
3. Branching mainly in trichotomies, pycnidial jelly hyaline Cladina arbuscula subsp. beringiana
4. Colour of medulla at podetial base strongly blackened (melanotic), apothecia rare, pycnidial jelly red Cladina stygia
4. Colour of podetial base more or less the same as upper portions, apothecia common, pycnidial jelly hyaline Cladina rangiferina
5. Branching equal (isotomic), branching mainly in tetrachotomies 6
5. Branching unequal (anisotomic), branching mainly in dichotomies, or mainly in trichotomies 7
6. Podetial tips PD+ yellow, psoromic acid present Cladina stellaris (chemotype 2)
6. Podetial tips PD-, psoromic acid absent [Cladina stellaris (chemotype 1)]
7. Podetia brown or grey, usnic acid absent, thallus KC- 8
7. Podetia yellow-green or greenish yellow, usnic acid present, thallus KC+ yellow 9
8. Surface of podetia composed of thin, smooth, irregular areoles; main branches often over 1.5 mm thick; thallus K+ yellow; merochlorophaeic acid and atranorin present, perlatolic acid absent Cladonia wainioi
8. Surface of podetia composed of tiny, flocculent, rounded areoles; main branches rarely over 1.5 mm thick; thallus K-; merochlorophaeic acid and atranorin absent, perlatolic acid present Cladina portentosa subsp. pacifica f. decolorans
9. Surface of podetia composed of tiny, flocculent areoles distributed over a transluscent stereome; branching mainly in di- and trichotomies; upper part of podetia often becoming brown; thallus UV+ bright blue-white, perlatolic acid present Cladina portentosa subsp. pacifica f. pacifica
9. Surface of podetia more or less continuous, sometimes verruculose; branching mainly in tri- and tetrachotomies, dichotomies sometimes frequent; upper part of podetia more or less uniform in colour; thallus UV- or dull grey, perlatolic acid absent [Cladina mitis]
Synopsis:
1. Podetia absent 2
1. Podetia present 5
5. Thallus much branched to richly branched 6
5. Thallus unbranched, or once or twice branched 18
18. Scyphi (cups) present on at least some podetia 19
18. Scyphi absent 71
19. Scyphi opening by a gaping hole 20
19. Scyphi closed (or irregularly perforate) 22
22. Thallus with yellowish tint (usnic acid present) 23
22. Thallus not distinctly yellowish (usnic acid absent) 34
23. Soredia or corticate granules present on podetia 24
23. Soredia or corticate granules absent, although microsquamules and peltate areoles may be present 33
34. Soredia present 35
34. Soredia absent 56
35. Thallus PD- 36
35. Thallus PD+ orange or red 38
38. Apothecia red; thallus PD+ orange (thamnolic acid) 32
38. Apothecia brown; thallus PD+ red (fumarprotocetraric acid) 39
39. Soredia farinose 40
39. Soredia granular 47
56. At least some scyphi with central proliferations 57
56. Scyphi with only marginal or no proliferations
60
60. Primary squamules more than 20 mm long 61
60. Primary squamules less than 20 mm long 62
62. Podetial base melanotic (blackening) 63
62. Podetial base not melanotic 65
71. Podetia with soredia or corticate granules 72
71. Podetia without soredia or corticate granules 88
Key to Cladonia Species:
1. Podetia absent 2
1. Podetia present 5
2. Squamules PD- or PD+ yellow (atranorin) C. symphycarpa
2. Squamules PD+ red (fumarprotocetraric acid) 3
3. Primary squamules brown, mainly horizontal, thick, subfoliose [C. pocillum]
3. Primary squamules yellowish- to greyish green, mainly ascending, relatively thin 4
4. Squamules usually pure white below, sometimes browned in part, rarely with corticate patches, not becoming markedly strap-shaped, always K+ yellow (atranorin) [C. macrophyllodes]
4. Squamules white to brown below, usually with corticate areoles or patches, becoming strap-shaped and branched, usually K- (atranorin rare) C. schofieldii
5. Thallus much branched to richly branched 6
5. Thallus unbranched, or once or twice branched 18
6. Thallus with a distinct yellowish tint (usnic acid present) 7
6. Thallus without a distinct yellowish tint (usnic acid absent) 12
7. Stereome (inner medulla) fibrous 8
7. Stereome smooth, not fibrous 9
8. Podetial tips PD+ yellow (psoromic acid) [C. nipponica]
8. Podetia entirely PD- (usnic acid alone) C. kanewskii
9. Thallus lacking a cortex, surface dull, webby (see key to Cladina)
9. Thallus corticate, surface often shiny, smooth to webby 10
10. Cups occasionally produced at branch tips; contains barbatic acid [C. amaurocraea]
10. Cups absent; lacking barbatic acid 11
11. Containing squamatic acid C. uncialis (chemotype 1)
11. Containing hypothamnolic acid C. uncialis (chemotype 2)
12. Thallus PD- 13
12. Thallus PD+ red or PD+ yellow 14
13. Containing merochlorophaeic acid C. wainioi
13. Lacking merochlorophaeic acid (see key to Cladina)
14. Thallus PD+ yellow-orange, K+ yellow (thamnolic acid) [C. poroscypha]
14. Thallus PD+ red, K- or brownish (fumarprotocetraric acid) 15
15. Podetia entirely lacking squamules (see key to Cladina)
15. Podetia sparingly or abundantly squamulose 16
16. Medulla K+ pale yellow, containing atranorin; podetia short and thick, under 40 mm tall and up to 3.5 mm wide; primary squamules, when present, up to 12 mm long, conspicuous [C. turgida]
16. Medulla K-, lacking atranorin; podetia tall and slender, usually over 40 mm tall and 2 mm wide; primary squamules rarely present, up to 5 mm long, inconspicuous 17
17. Granular soredia and microsquamules produced at the podetial tips C. scabriuscula
17. Lacking soredia, although eroded cortex sometimes resembles soredia C. furcata
18. Scyphi (cups) present on at least some podetia 19
18. Scyphi absent 71
19. Scyphi opening by a gaping hole 20
19. Scyphi closed (or irregularly perforate) 22
20. Podetia farinose sorediate; cups involute [C. cenotea]
20. Podetia without soredia 21
21. Podetia abundantly squamulose (micro- or macrosquamules), largely decorticate C. squamosa
21. Podetia with squamules, if present, largely restricted to bases; cortex mostly continuous C. crispata
22. Thallus with yellowish tint (usnic acid present) 23
22. Thallus not distinctly yellowish (usnic acid absent) 34
23. Soredia or corticate granules present on podetia 24
23. Soredia or corticate granules absent, although microsquamules and peltate areoles may be present 33
24. Thallus PD+ yellow-orange (thamnolic acid) 32
25. Podetia with farinose soredia 26
25. Podetia with granulose soredia or corticate granules 29
26. Thallus containing squamatic acid, lacking zeorin 27
26. Thallus containing zeorin, lacking squamatic acid 28
27. Scyphi relatively broad, 2-12 mm across; podetia 15-65 mm tall, often split or torn and/or perforated, especially in upper half [C. sulphurina]
27. Scyphi relatively narrow, 1-2.5 mm across; podetia 10-27 mm tall, not split or perforated C. umbricola
28. Apothecia and pycnidia red; sterile podetia with more or less even cup margins; barbatic acid very rarely present [C. deformis]
28. Apothecia and pycnidia pale brown; sterile podetia with more or less dentate margins; barbatic acid usually present in QCI material C. carneola
29. Squamatic acid present, zeorin absent 30
29. Squamatic acid absent, zeorin present 31
30. Podetia with corticate granules, lacking true soredia; containing didymic acid C. metacorallifera
30. Podetia with granular (usually with some farinose) soredia; lacking didymic acid C. umbricola
31. Apothecia red; soredia tend to be more granular than farinose, and are usually confined to the upper third of the podetia C. pleurota
31. Apothecia pale brown; soredia tend to be more farinose than granular, and usually are dispersed over the entire podetium C. carneola
32. Podetia with farinose soredia, podetial squamules lacking or confined to base C. umbricola
32. Podetia with granular soredia (often sparse); podetial squamules usually abundant C. transcendens
33. Podetia short, 7-20 mm tall, scyphi relatively broad and goblet-shaped, podetial squamules absent or restricted to the base; contains barbatic acid C. borealis
33. Podetia relatively tall, 10-40 mm high; scyphi relatively narrow; podetia usually abundantly squamulose; contains squamatic or thamnolic acid C. bellidiflora
34. Soredia absent 56
35. Thallus PD+ orange or red 38
36. Scyphi broad, goblet-shaped; containing merochlorophaeic acid [C. merochlorophaea]
36. Scyphi narrow; lacking merochlorophaeic acid 37
37. Soredia largely farinose; containing squamatic acid C. umbricola
37. Soredia granular; containing homosekikaic acid [C. rei]
38. Apothecia red; thallus PD+ orange (thamnolic acid) 32
38. Apothecia brown; thallus PD+ red (fumarprotocetraric acid) 39
39. Soredia granular 47
40. Containing homosekikaic acid; podetia 10-45 mm tall; scyphi 3-5 mm across; very rare [C. homosekikaica]
40. Lacking homosekikaic acid 41
41. Soredia produced in discrete soralia or patches 42
41. Soredia diffuse, not in discrete patches or soralia 43
42. Thallus with brown tones predominating, inner medulla usually relatively thin C. cornuta subsp. groenlandica
42. Thallus with grey-green tones predominating; inner medulla usually relatively thick and tough C. ochrochlora
43. Scyphi mostly more than 3 mm across 44
43. Scyphi mostly less than 3 mm across 45
44. Corticate granules present, especially on lower half of podetia; fatty acid usually present C. asahinae
44. Corticate granules absent, soredia mostly farinose; fatty acids absent C. fimbriata
45. Podetia corticate at base and up to 3/4 the length of the podetia; soredia partly granulose, usually in patches C. ochrochlora
45. Podetia ecorticate except at very base; not at all granulose sorediate 46
46. Podetia very rarely branched, mostly under 30 mm tall, dark green to olivaceous; primary squamules always present, up to 6 mm long and broad C. coniocraea
46. Podetia commonly branched once or twice, 20-100 mm tall, often greyish; primary squamules often disappearing, up to 3 mm long and broad [C. subulata]
47. Podetial bases melanotic (blackening); cups often with central proliferations 48
47. Podetial bases not melanotic; cups without central proliferations 49
48. Podetia 20-70 mm tall; cups very narrow compared to podetial length, 1-4 mm across; apothecia common C. verruculosa
48. Podetia 10-47 mm tall; cups broad compared to podetial length, 2-8 mm across; apothecia rare C. albonigra
49. Containing homosekikaic acid 50
49. Lacking homosekikaic acid 51
50. Podetia slender, 0.8-1.5 mm thick; upper part of podetia mottled; rarely with well-formed scyphi [C. rei]
50. Podetia thick, 1-4 mm; upper part of podetia more or less uniform; usually with well-formed scyphi [C. homosekikaica]
51. Soredia produced in soralia or patches 42
51. Soredia more or less diffuse 52
52. Width of scyphi mostly less than 3 mm C. ochrochlora
52. Width of scyphi mostly greater than 3 mm 53
53. Merochlorophaeic acid present [C. merochlorophaea]
53. Merochlorophaeic acid absent 54
54. Soredia largely covering podetia C. fimbriata
54. Soredia confined to upper half of podetia 55
55. Fatty acids usually present; at least some farinose soredia present C. asahinae
55. Fatty acids absent; entirely lacking farinose soredia C. chlorophaea
56. At least some scyphi with central proliferations 57
56. Scyphi with only marginal or no proliferations 60
57. Atranorin absent 59
58. Base of podetia strongly melanotic (blackening); primary squamules small, up to 4 mm long and broad; podetia 20-60 mm tall [C. stricta]
58. Base of podetia scarcely melanotic but sometimes yellowish; primary squamules large, up to 12 mm long, 15 mm broad; podetia 7-15 mm tall [C. macrophyllodes]
59. Primary squamules ligulate, conspicuous, up to 12 mm long and 6 mm broad; podetia short, up to 25 mm tall C. cervicornis subsp. cervicornis
59. Primary squamules rounded, small, up to 4 mm long and broad; podetia well-developed, up to 50 mm tall [C. cervicornis subsp. verticillata]
60. Primary squamules more than 20 mm long 61
60. Primary squamules less than 20 mm long, or absent 62
61. Primary squamules brown, mainly horizontal, thick, radiating, subfoliose, not melanotic at base [C. pocillum]
61. Primary squamules yellowish- to greyish green, mainly ascending, relatively thin, melanotic at base C. schofieldii
62. Podetial base melanotic (blackening) 63
62. Podetial base not melanotic 65
63. Podetial squamules usually present; podetial surface dull, "tomentose" C. phyllophora s. lato
63. Podetial squamules absent; podetial surface smooth and shiny 64
64. Podetia up to 100 mm long, with frequent, oval perforations; base weakly melanotic; without atranorin C. gracilis subsp. vulnerata
64. Podetia up to 45 (rarely100) mm long; not, or rarely perforated; base clearly melanotic; atranorin usually present in small quantity C. gracilis subsp. elongata
65. Primary thallus evanescent; podetia largely subulate, but scyphi sometimes also present 66
65. Primary thallus almost always persistent; podetia not subulate, scyphi present 68
66. Atranorin present in large quantity; podetia usually pruinose, at least at tips [C. ecmocyna subsp. intermedia] (see also couplet 96)
66. Atranorin absent; podetia not at all pruinose 67
67. Podetial bases becoming yellowish, perforations rare; scyphi commonly present on at least some podetia [C. maxima]
67. Podetial bases more or less the same colour as rest of podetia, or whitish, not becoming yellow; perforations frequent; scyphi rare C. gracilis subsp. vulnerata
68. Scyphi irregular (i.e., asymmetrical), oblique C. prolifica
68. Scyphi regular (i.e., symmetrical), round or flat 69
69. Podetial surface smooth C. gracilis subsp. turbinata
69. Podetial surface areolate to verruculose 70
70. Containing sekikaic and homosekikaic acids + fumarprotocetraric acid C. novochlorophaea
70. Containing fumarprotocetraric acid alone C. pyxidata
71. Podetia with soredia or corticate granules 72
71. Podetia without soredia or corticate granules 88
72. Propagules mostly corticate granules or granular microsquamules 73
72. Propagules ecorticate granular or farinose soredia 75
73. Podetia distinctly yellowish, at least at base; usnic acid often present; apothecia red
C. transcendens
73. Podetia not yellowish, even at base 74
74. Podetia PD+ red (fumarprotocetraric acid), slender, branched at tips at least once or twice C. scabriuscula
74. Podetia PD- (squamatic acid) or PD+ orange (thamnolic acid), thick, infrequently branched C. squamosa
75. Podetia PD- 76
75. Podetia PD+ red, yellow or orange 80
76. Contains homosekikaic acid [C. rei]
76. Without homosekikaic acid 77
77. Contains squamatic acid, lacking barbatic acid C. umbricola
77. Lacking squamatic acid, containing barbatic acid 78
78. Containing usnic acid, thallus KC+ yellow; podetial base turning bluish (cyanotic)
[C. cyanipes]
78. Lacking usnic acid, thallus KC-; podetial base not turning bluish 79
79. Apothecia red; cortex restricted to base of podetia; primary squamules crenate, rounded, rather thick C. macilenta (chemotype 2)
79. Apothecia waxy pale brown; cortex commonly covering the lower half of the podetia; primary squamules finely divided, thin C. norvegica
80. Podetia PD+ orange, K+ deep yellow (thamnolic acid); apothecia red 81
80. Podetia PD+ red, K- or brownish (fumarprotocetraric acid); apothecia brown 83
81. Podetia squamulose; soredia granular C. transcendens
81. Podetia largely esquamulose 82.
82. Primary squamules small, up to 2 mm long, rounded, rather thick C. macilenta (chemotype 1)
82. Primary squamules large, up to 7 mm long, incised, finely divided, thin C. umbricola
83. Soredia mostly confined to upper half or tip of podetia 84
83. Soredia usually covering podetia 87
84. Podetia tall (65 mm or more), relatively slender, squamulose C. scabriuscula
84. Podetia usually under 40 mm high, not squamulose 85
85. Podetial surface verruculose; soredia mostly diffuse; containing homosekikaic acid [C. rei]
85. Podetial surface smooth (where corticate); soredia mostly in patches; lacking homosekikaic acid 86
86. Thallus with brown tones predominating, inner medulla usually relatively thin C. cornuta subsp. cornuta
86. Thallus with grey-green tones predominating; inner medulla usually relatively thick and tough C. ochrochlora
87. Podetia very rarely branched, mostly under 30 mm tall, dark green to olivaceous; primary squamules up to 6 mm long and broad C. coniocraea
87. Podetia commonly branched once or twice, 20-100 mm tall, often greyish; primary squamules up to 3 mm long and broad [C. subulata]
88. Containing usnic acid; apothecia red, common C. bellidiflora
88. Lacking usnic acid; apothecia brown, rare 89
89. Podetia PD- or PD+ yellow 90
89. Podetia PD+ red (fumarprotocetraric acid) 94
90. Medulla K+ pale yellow, UV(LW)-, containing atranorin, lacking squamatic acid; primary squamules ascending, dense, up to 8 mm long C. symphycarpia
90. Medulla K-, UV(LW)+ blue-white, lacking atranorin, containing squamatic acid; primary squamules smaller or absent 91
91. Podetia decorticate when mature C. squamosa
91. Podetia retaining a continuous cortex when mature 92
92. Podetia melanotic at base, without squamules C. subfurcata
92. Podetia not melanotic at base, with or without squamules 93
93. Podetia with rudimentary cups opening by a gaping hole C. crispata var. crispata
93. Podetia largely subulate C. crispata var. cetrariiformis
94. Containing atranorin as a major constituent 95
94. Lacking atranorin, or present only in small amounts 97
95. Primary squamules up to 12 mm long, 7 mm broad; podetial surface epruinose, dark green [C. turgida]
95. Primary squamules small or disappearing; podetial surface pruinose, at least in part, greyish green 96
96. Podetial squamules occasional; podetia up to 4 mm thick [C. ecmocyna subsp. ecmocyna]
96. Podetial squamules absent or confined to base; podetia up to 1.5 mm thick C. ecmocyna subsp. occidentalis
97. Podetia slender, 1-2(-3) mm thick, delicate; holes in axils of branches C. furcata
97. Podetia thicker; hole not in branch axils, although the podetia can have lateral perforations 98
98. Podetial bases yellowish, perforations rare [C. maxima]
98. Podetial bases more or less the same colour as rest of thallus or melanotic 63
________________
Originally posted on: 11 March 2000
Written by: Irwin M. Brodo and Teuvo Ahti
Reformatted and converted to HTML by: Philip F. May pfmay@aol.com
Suggestions and corrections to content: Irwin M. Brodo ibrodo@mus-nature.ca
Suggested citation: