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Lectotypification of Umbilicaria torrefacta (Lightf. ) Schrad.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2017

Geir Hestmark
Geir Hestmark*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway. Email: geir.hestmark@ibv.uio.no
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Short Communication
Information
The Lichenologist , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 167 - 169
Copyright
© British Lichen Society, 2017 

The mainly saxicolous lichen genus Umbilicaria is distributed worldwide in the boreal and alpine-arctic-antarctic vegetation zones. The circumscription and number of its species is reasonably well known, particularly in Europe (Frey Reference Frey1933; Llano Reference Llano1950; Wei & Jiang Reference Wei and Jiang1993; Krog et al. Reference Krog, Østhagen and Tønsberg1994; Smith et al. Reference Smith, Aptroot, Coppins, Fletcher, Gilbert, James and Wolseley2009). Nevertheless, quite a number of its taxa lack proper typification, a task often made difficult by complex histories of synonyms and misidentifications (Hestmark 1993, Reference Hestmark2007, Reference Hestmark2010, Reference Hestmark2014, Reference Hestmark2015).

Umbilicaria torrefacta has a circumpolar distribution in the boreal and arctic biomes of the Northern Hemisphere (Frey Reference Frey1933; Llano Reference Llano1950; Brodo et al. Reference Brodo, Scharnoff and Scharnoff2001) and is one of the most common Umbilicaria species encountered in Scandinavian mountains (Hestmark et al. Reference Hestmark, Skogesal and Skullerud2004, Reference Hestmark, Skogesal and Skullerud2007). The thalli are usually monophyllous and may reach up to 10 cm in diameter (but more commonly 2–5 cm) and margins have characteristic sieve-like perforations, giving it vernacular names such as ‘punctured rocktripe’ or ‘perforated rocktripe’. The upper surface is dark to medium brown, glossy, areolate and criss-crossed by dark fissures; the lower surface is beige to light brown, with distinct trabeculae and lamellae radiating from the umbilicus, and rhizinomorphs are scattered or dense. Apothecia are common, black, gyrose; asci clavate; ascospores hyaline, 8 per ascus, unicellular, 8–12×4–6 μm.

The name Lichen torrefactus was first proposed by John Lightfoot in the second volume of Flora Scotica (Reference Lightfoot1777: 862–863). The Latin epithet ‘torrefactus’ means ‘roasted’ and is today mostly used for a particular roast of coffee where sugar is added to glaze the beans. It is unknown to what degree Lightfoot associated the name with coffee but as a description of the glazed brown upper surface of his taxon it is very apt. The taxon was subsequently renamed Umbilicaria torrefacta by Schrader in Spicilegium Florae Germanicae (Schrader Reference Schrader1794: 104), the genus name Umbilicaria having been introduced by Hoffmann.

Recent treatments of Umbilicaria in America and Asia do not specify a type for Umbilicaria torrefacta. Llano (Reference Llano1950: 164) writes only ‘Type: Scotland, Highlands, Lightfoot’, and Wei & Jiang (Reference Wei and Jiang1993: 176) write: ‘Type locality: Scotland, Highlands (not seen)’. Thus neither a particular specimen nor a herbarium location is indicated. Although the vascular plants from Lightfoot’s herbarium are extant (Bowden Reference Bowden1989), unfortunately his lichen herbarium has yet to be located (Galloway Reference Galloway2014).

Lightfoot’s protologue reads as follows:

“torrefactus 70. L. umbilicatus pullus, supra rugosus, subtus reticulato-fibrosus, verrucis nigris crispis. (Dillen. musc. t. 30. f. 118 bona & ejus varietas f. 119. Oed. Dan t. 471. f. 3? sed absque fibris reticulatis.) Sad-colour’d crumpled Lichen, with black curled warts. Upon the highland rocks frequent. This consists of one, and often several leaves, of a black brown or sad colour, united at the base by an umbilical cord. The upper side is crumpled, and the margin lobed and uneven. The under side is fibrous, and of a paler colour, especially towards the centre, where the fibres are most numerous, and are thin, compres’d, and reticulated. The space between the fibres is finely granulated, which gives it a slight asperity, like chagrin. The fructifications are numerous, wrinkled, black, sessile tubercles, which seem to be composed of curled hairs, very like those of the L. crinitus before-mentioned, but not so regular nor so shining. Whether Linnæus intended to comprehend this under his L. polyrhizos, or has totally neglected it, is uncertain; but we are sure that it relates to those figures of Dillenius above cited, from having had a view of that author’s specimens.”

The last sentence implies that specimens in Dillenius’ herbarium were part of the material examined when Lightfoot described his Lichen torrefactus, and that if such specimens be extant and corresponding to Umbilicaria torrefacta, they shall serve as lectotype. Dillenius’ herbarium for his Historia Muscorum is still extant at the Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford University (Druce & Vines Reference Druce and Vines1907), and also available today as photographed plates on the web (http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/historiamuscorum). Dillenius’ description of what he calls “The sad colour’d stiff Lichenoides, with black warts” “Lichenoides rugosum durum pullum, peltis atris verrucosis” in Historia Muscorum (Dillenius Reference Dillenius1742: 220) substantially agrees with Lightfoot’s description of Lichen torrefactus. In contrast to this good description, the illustration in Historia Muscorum, drawn and engraved by Dillenius himself, is not very characteristic, although nothing disputes it being Umbilicaria torrefacta either (Dillenius Reference Dillenius1742, Tab. XXX, fig. 118).

The country of origin and collector of no. 118 are not given in Dillenius’ text nor are they provided on the herbarium sheet with the specimens. The text mentions only that it grows in the same places as the ‘penultimate’ species (Locus Nascitur iisdem cum penultima specie locis) (Dillenius Reference Dillenius1742: 220), presumably meaning the species preceding no. 118, thus no. 117 (which is Umbilicaria grisea) under which are listed localities in France, Sweden and England (Dillenius Reference Dillenius1742: 219).

On sheet no. LXXVIII in the preserved Dillenian herbarium for the Historia Muscorum (OXF) there are three thalli with the explicit note that these are “Hist. Musc. P. 220 no. 118” (Fig. 1). They are all good U. torrefacta but the left-hand specimen appears to express the traits of the taxon best and accordingly seems to be the best choice for lectotypification.

Fig. 1 Umbilicaria torrefacta, (lectotype) from sheet no. LXXVIII, Dillenius’ herbarium for Historia Muscorum (OXF-Dillenius). Arrow indicates selected lectotype specimen. In colour online.

Umbilicaria torrefacta (Lightf.) Schrad.

Lightfoot, Flora Scotica (Reference Lightfoot1777: 862). Schrader, Spicilegium Florae Germanicae, 1794: 104. Lectotype here designated: locality unknown. The left specimen of three numbered 118 in Herb. Dillenius (OXF-Dillenius), sheet no. LXXVIII, with text ‘Lichenoides rugosum durum pullum, peltis atro verrucosis Hist. Musc. P. 220 n. 118’. For image of lectotype see Fig. 1.

=Lichen torrefactus Lightf., Flora Scotica 2: 862 (1777).

=Gyrophora torrefacta (Lightf.) Cromb., Monogr. Lich. Brit. 1: 329 (1894).

Lightfoot’s description also indicates Dillenius no. 119 as a variety of Lichen torrefactus, but here both the description and illustration (Dillenius Reference Dillenius1742: 220 & Tab. XXX, no. 119) are different, and the specimens preserved in Dillenius’ herbarium under this number are Umbilicaria hyperborea with a dark, plain lower side. The fact that Lightfoot designates no. 118 as ‘bona’ (good) shows that this was his main concept of the taxon.

Herbarium manager Serena Marner, Oxford University Herbaria, Department of Plant Sciences, is thanked for providing the photograph from OXF-Dillenius in Fig. 1.

References

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Figure 0

Fig. 1 Umbilicaria torrefacta, (lectotype) from sheet no. LXXVIII, Dillenius’ herbarium for Historia Muscorum (OXF-Dillenius). Arrow indicates selected lectotype specimen. In colour online.