- Cladonia rangiferina
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Cladonia rangiferina Scientific classification Kingdom: Fungi Division: Ascomycota Class: Lecanoromycetes Order: Lecanorales Family: Cladoniaceae Genus: Cladonia Species: C. rangiferina Binomial name Cladonia rangiferina
(L.) Weber ex F.H. Wigg. (1780)Cladonia rangiferina, also known as Reindeer lichen (c.p. Sw. renlav), lat., is a light-colored, fruticose lichen belonging to the family Cladoniaceae. It grows in both hot and cold climates in well-drained, open environments. Found primarily in areas of alpine tundra, it is extremely cold-hardy.
Other common names include Reindeer moss and Caribou moss. As the common names suggest, Reindeer lichen is an important food for reindeer (caribou), and has economic importance as a result. Synonyms include Cladina rangiferina and Lichen rangiferinus.
Reindeer lichen, like many lichens, is slow growing (3-5 mm per year) and may take decades to return once overgrazed, burned, trampled, or otherwise consumed.[1]
A similar-looking species also known by the common name Reindeer lichen is Cladonia portentosa.
Contents
Description
Thalli are fruticose, and extensively branched, with each branch usually dividing into three or four (sometimes two); the thicker branches are typically 1-1.5 mm in diameter.[1] The color is grayish, whitish or brownish grey. C. rangiferina forms extensive mats up to 10 cm tall. The branching is at a smaller angle than that of Cladonia portentosa.[2] It lacks a well-defined cortex (a protective layer covering the thallus, analogous to the epidermis in plants), but rather, a loose layer of hyphae cover the photobionts. The photobiont associated with the reindeer lichen is Trebouxia irregularis.[3] It grows on humus, or on soil over rock.
Habitat and conservation
C. rangiferina often dominates the ground in boreal pine forests and open, low-alpine sites in a wide range of habitats, from humid, open forests, rocks and heaths. A specific biome in which this lichen is represented by the Boreal forests of Canada.[4]
In certain parts of its range this lichen is a threatened species. For example in the British Duchy of Cornwall it is protected under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
Bioactive compounds
A variety of bioactive compounds have been isolated and identified from C. rangierina, including abietane, labdane, isopimarane, the abietane diterpenoids hanagokenols A and B, ontuanhydride, sugiol, 5,6-dehydrosugiol, montbretol, cis-communic acid, imbricatolic acid, 15-acetylimbricatoloic acid, junicedric acid, 7α-hydroxysandaracopimaric acid, β-resorylic acid, atronol, barbatic acid, homosekikaic acid, didymic acid and condidymic acid. Some of these compounds have mild inhibitory activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci.[5] Exposure to UV-B radiation induces the accumulation of usnic acid and melanic compounds.[6] Usnic acid is thought to play a role in protecting the photosymbiont by absorbing excess UV-B.[7][8]
Uses
This lichen can be used in the making of aquavit, and is sometimes used as decoration in glass windows. The lichen is used as a traditional remedy for removal of kidney stones by the Monpa in the alpine regions of the West Kameng district of Eastern Himalaya.[9] The Inland Dena'ina used reindeer lichen for food by crushing the dry plant and then boiling it or soaking it in hot water until it becomes soft. They eat it plain or, preferably, mixed with berries, fish eggs, or lard. The Inland Dena'ina also boil Reindeer lichen and drink the juice as a medicine for diarrhea. Due to acids in them, lichens may cause an upset stomach, especially if not well cooked.[10]
See also
References
- ^ Geiser, Linda; McCune, Bruce (1997). Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-87071-394-9.
- ^ Dobson, Frank S., Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species, Richmond Publishing, Slough, 5th edn 2005.
- ^ Rikkinen J. (1995). What's Behind the Pretty Colours?: a Study on the Photobiology of Lichens. Bryobrothera '4'. p. 16
- ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Black Spruce: Picea mariana, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
- ^ Yoshikawa K, Kokudo N, Tanaka M, Nakano T, Shibata H, Aragaki N, Higuchi T, Hashimoto T. (2008). Novel abietane diterpenoids and aromatic compounds from Cladonia rangiferina and their antimicrobial activity against antibiotics resistant bacteria. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 56(1): 89-92.
- ^ Nybakken L, Julkunen-Tiito R. (2006). UV-B induces usnic acid in reindeer lichens. Lichenologist 38(5): 477-485.
- ^ Bjerke J, Lerfall H, Elvebakk A. (2002) Effects of ultraviolet radiation and PAR on the content of usnic and divaricatic acids in two arctic-alpine lichens. Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences 1: 678–685.
- ^ Bjerke JW, Elvebakk A, Dominguez E, Dahlback A. (2005) Seasonal trends in usnic acid concentrations of Arctic, alpine and Patagonian populations of the lichen Flavocetraria nivalis. Phytochemistry 66: 337–344.
- ^ Rout J, Kar A, Upreti DK. (2005). Traditional remedy for kidney stones from a high altitude lichen: Cladonia rangiferina (L.) Wigg (Reindeer moss) of Eastern Himalaya. Ethnobotany 17(1/2): 164-166.
- ^ "Caribou Moss - Cladonia rangiferina". http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/caribou_moss.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
External links
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- CABI Bioscience Databases. Available online at http://www.indexfungorum.org/.
- Damien Ertz, James D. Lawrey, Masoumeh Sikaroodi, Patrick M. Gillevet, Eberhard Fischer, Dorothee Killmann, and Emmanuël Sérusiaux. 2008. A new lineage of lichenized basidiomycetes inferred from a two-gene phylogeny: The Lepidostromataceae with three species from the tropics. American Journal of Botany 95(12): 1548–1556.
- Ekman, Stefan, Heidi L. Andersen, and Mats Wedin. 2008. The limitations of ancestral state reconstruction and the evolution of the ascus in the Lecanorales (lichenized Ascomycota). Systematic Biology 57(1): 141–156.
- Ekman, Stefan. 2001. Molecular phylogeny of the Bacidiaceae (Lecanorales, lichenized Ascomycota). Mycological Research 105(7): 783-797.
- Grube, Martin and Katarina Winka. 2002. Progress in understanding the evolution and classification of lichenized ascomycetes. Mycologist 16(2): 67-76.
- Liu , Yajuan J. and Benjamin D. Hall. 2004. Body plan evolution of ascomycetes, as inferred from an RNA polymerase II phylogeny. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101(13): 4507-4512.
- Schmitt I, Yamamoto Y, Lumbsch HT. 2006. Phylogeny of Pertusariales (Ascomycotina): Resurrection of Ochrolechiaceae and new circumscription of Megasporaceae. Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory 100: 753-764.
- Staiger, Bettina, Klaus Kalb, and Martin Grube. 2006. Phylogeny and phenotypic variation in the lichen family Graphidaceae (Ostropomycetidae, Ascomycota). Mycological Research 110: 765-772.
Categories:- Lecanorales
- Lichens
- Fungi of Europe
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