Ramalina menziesii

Ramalina menziesii, the lace lichen, is a pale yellowish-green to grayish-green foliose lichen that grows up to a meter long, hanging from bark and twigs in a distinctive net-like or lace-like pattern that is unlike any other lichen in North America.[1]:192 It becomes a deeper green when wet.[1]:192 Apothecia are lecanorine.[1]:192 it is an important food source for deer in the Coast Range of California, and a source of nest material for birds.[1]:192 It is highly variable in its growth form, with branches sometimes so slender as to appear like strands, sometimes tiny, and sometimes large with broadly flattened branches.[1]:192

Ramalina menziesii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Ascomycota
Class:
Lecanoromycetes
Order:
Lecanorales
Family:
Ramalinaceae
Genus:
Ramalina
Species:
R. menziesii
Binomial name
Ramalina menziesii

Lichen spot tests on the cortex are K-, C-, P- and KC+ dark yellow.[1]:192

After years of effort, the California Lichen Society was able to honor this lichen as the state lichen of California, and the first ever state lichen.[2]

References
  1. Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-19500-2
  2. http://californialichens.org/state-lichen/


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