Notes on Lichen Names

Isabelle I. Tavares and Richard L. Moe

If lichenologists are to communicate unambiguously about lichens, the names that they use must follow a stable naming system. The system used is the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al., Regnum Vegetabile 131.1994), mentioned in an earlier note. Unfortunately, in spite of the existence of the Code, confusion about names arises from time to time. Sometimes the confusion results from misunderstanding (or ignorance) of the Code, sometimes from modifications in the Code. In the present note we discuss three names in the local lichen flora that are subject to confusion.

1. Heterodermia leucomela or leucomelaena?

Principle V of the Code states that scientific names of taxonomic groups are treated as Latin regardless of their derivation. Articles 23, 32, and 60 of the Code govern construction of names. The name of a genus is a noun in the singular number and the name of a species is the genus name plus a specific epithet, which is usually an adjective agreeing grammatically with the genus name.

The name Heterodermia leucomelaena (L.) Poelt (Nova Hedwigia 9:31. 1965), now also seen as H. leucomela, e.g., Moberg and Nash (Bryologist 102: 7. 1999), is based on the name Lichen leucomelos Linnaeus (Species Plantarum, ed. 2, 2: 1613. 1763). The roots of the epithet are Greek --leukos, meaning white, and melas, meaning black. The Latin word "Lichen" is masculine in gender, and therefore the adjectival epithet should have a masculine ending. When Acharius (Methodus qua omnes detectos lichenes, Stockholm, 1803, p. 256) transferred this species to Parmelia, he was obligated to render "melos" in feminine, to agree with the gender of the generic name. He apparently transliterated the original Greek adjective into the Latin "leucomelus", and then used the appropriate feminine ending "a" to arrive at Parmelia leucomela. He used the same epithet later in transferring the species to Borrera. The spelling "leucomelaena" apparently originated with Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth (Nova Genera et Species Plantarum 8: 108. 1825), who cited a record from South America as Borrera leucomelaena. These authors apparently reasoned that the feminine ending of the epithet should follow the Greek feminine ending, "melaina", and therefore corrected Acharius. There is no justification in the Code for this correction, although Articles 32.6, 60.1, 61.4, and Recommendations 23A.3(a), 60.E.1, 60.F.1 are somewhat conflicting. The species was subsequently transferred to Anaptychia, Hagenia, Physcia, and Teloschistes, always as "leucomela". Vainio (Acta Societatis Fauna et Flora Fennica 7 (1):128. 1890) reintroduced the spelling "leucomelaena" in citing a record from Brazil, and Poelt used the variant in transferring the species to Heterodermia. In our opinion, "leucomela" is the spelling that should be used.

2. Caloplaca subpyracella or Caloplaca subpyraceella?

With regard to questions about spelling of epithets, it is sometimes necessary to explore etymology. The epithet subpyraceella was proposed by Nylander (in Hasse, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 24: 446. 1897) for a species from Santa Monica that he placed in Lecanora. Although it was not explicitly stated, the epithet was presumably chosen to denote a similarity to Lecanora subpyracea Nylander, the suffix "-ella" often being used for this purpose. Interestingly, "subpyracea" was explicitly chosen to denote a similarity to Lecanora pyracea Nylander. Although the epithet is correctly formed according to the compounding rules in the Code, Zahlbruckner (Botanische Centralblatt 23: 149. 1902), when transferring L. subpyraceella to Caloplaca, accidentally or intentionally dropped an "e", and retained the erroneous variant later. Numerous references, including one in the Bulletin of the California Lichen Society (2[2]: 3. 1995) have reflected Zahlbruckner's error. The North American Checklist (The Bryologist 98: 467-549. 1995) uses the correct spelling, subpyraceella.

3. What's in a synonym?

Care should be taken in listing synonyms. Arup (Bryologist 96: 466. 1993) treated Caloplaca bolanderi Tuck. as a variety of C. luteominia (Tuck.) Zahlbr. In the same treatment, he considered Caloplaca laeta H. Magn. as conspecific with C. luteominia, which is an older name. However, he did not indicate whether C. laeta was a synonym of var. luteominia (disk of apothecium yellowish-orange to reddish-orange) or of var. bolanderi (disk scarlet to vermilion). Magnusson (Botaniska Notiser 1944: pp. 65, 77) described the disk color of C. laeta as cinnabar to miniate (Stearns, Botanical Latin, 1966, pp. 401 defined these as vermilion and "flame-scarlet," respectively). Arup (1993, p. 468) mentioned that C. laeta differed from C. luteominia var. luteominia only by having a thin thallus, but he also emphasized the intense orange color of the apothecia of var. luteominia as contrasted to the scarlet apothecia of var. bolanderi. This would suggest a closer similarity of C. laeta to C. luteominia var. bolanderi. There are no nomenclatural consequences, but if var. bolanderi were reinstated as a separate species or transferred to a different species, the disposition of C. laeta would be uncertain.

NEWS AND NOTES

(compiled by Judy Robertson)

Donors and Sponsors

We would like to recognize the following members of CALS who subscribed in 1999 at the Donor or Sponsor level:

Stephen Buckhout, May Chen, Lori Hubbart, Greg Jirak, Boyd Poulsen, Subir Sanyal, Stella Yang.

Symposium

Lichens Exposed was the theme of the first CALS Symposium, held on Sunday, November 7 in the Goethe Room of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Over 60 participants came to see and hear presentations, view lichens under the microscope, browse lichen literature, examine lichen specimens, and visit with other lichenologists. Attending were students from local colleges and universities, members of the California Native Plant Society, the San Francisco Mycological Society, our Society, and others interested in lichens. In welcoming the attendees, CALS President Judy Robertson summarized the history of CALS. Nine people, many of whom had taken Dr. Harry Thiers's lichenology class at San Francisco State University, held the first official meeting on January 31, 1994. Now CALS has over 130 members from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Judy reminded us that the mission of the Society is to promote the study, conservation, and appreciation of lichens and that the Society has worked towards this goal through sponsoring workshops, field trips, seminars, providing lichen displays at various exhibits, maintaining a website and semi-annual publication of the CALS Bulletin. She invited those attending who were not members of CALS to join in partnership with us to expose others to the beauty, variety, usefulness, and uniqueness of lichens.

The first presentation was a dramatic multimedia slide show of lichen images by Richard Doell. A retired geophysicist, Richard was introduced to lichens by his wife, Janet, a founding member of the Society. The slide presentation combined his interest in lichens with his talent as an photographer. He used four slide projectors and a stereo system to fill the room with light, color, and sound. Photo images making small specimens appear much larger than life moved in and out on the screen emphasizing the amazing variety of life forms displayed by lichens. The presentation was truly a lovely exposure to the beauty of lichens and an enticing beginning to the day.

Janet Doell gave the next presentation. Janet fell in love with lichens in 1978 and took Dr. Thiers's lichenology class. In her master's thesis project, she used the technique of lichenometry to date a rock fall in Nevada. Janet's task at the Symposium was to expose the participants to All There Is to Know About Lichens in 40 minutes. She explained that lichens can be found worldwide from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the desert to the tropics, emphasizing that lichens are a very successful combination of fungi and algae. Janet outlined the major groups of lichens using slides to illustrate various diagnostic characters. She gave us some common names of lichens, such as Lace Lichen (Ramalina menziesii Taylor), Old Man's Beard (Usnea sp.), Oak moss (Evernia prunastri [L.] Ach.), Wolf lichen (Letharia sp.), Rock Tripe (Umbilicaria sp.) She told us some of the present and historical uses of lichens, from food for humans (Umbilicaria and related species eaten by Eskimos and Laplanders), food for animals (Cladina sp. eaten by caribou and reindeer), fixatives in perfume (Evernia prunastri), antibiotic ointments (Usnea sp.), diapers (Ramalina menziesii historically by California Indians), dyes (Letharia sp., Ochrolechia sp.), to pollution monitoring--the most important use of lichens today. Janet emphasized that there are so many mysteries still to be solved about lichens that the amateur lichenologist can make real and significant contributions to this growing and changing knowledge. A question and answer period followed.

At the break, participants were able to purchase framed lichen photos by Richard Doell, CALS posters, and raffle tickets, peruse lichen literature and share in coffee, juice, muffins, and donuts.

Our third Lichens Exposed presentation was by Darrell Wright. Darrell became interested in vascular plants in 1970 and produced a vascular flora of Deer Park Valley in Marin County, California. In 1977 he discovered lichens and is now studying the genus Usnea in Northern California.

In his Miscellaneous Lichen Topics, Darrell covered the topic of collecting ethics. His suggestion was that our own collecting should set an example of sensitivity and attention to the conservation of this group of slow-growing plants. He emphasized that lichens are being compromised by pollution and habitat destruction.

His next topic was Lichen chemistry, what good is it? Darrell pointed out that simple spot tests using common reagents such as Clorox® (the C test) and KOH (the K test) can be very important in lichen identification. These reagents react with stable and reliable secondary products produced by lichens to give characteristic colors. More specialized tests such as thin layer chromatography (TLC) and DNA analysis yield even more information about lichens. However, these tests are not readily available to the amateur lichenologist.

Darrell's last topic was An Overview of some Usnea species in California. He began with a history of Usnea studies. Then he explained that lichens in the genus Usnea are very sensitive to air pollution and their presence or absence can be used to determine the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air. He noted what is probably a reference to this lichen in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Evangeline:

This is the forest primeval.

The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,

Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,

Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,

Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.

Using slides Darrell then outlined the diagnostic characters of each of the Usnea species so that participants would be able to tell them apart by the end of his talk. He noted that longitudinal sectioning of the central branch is key to identifying species. The relative width, thickness and color of cortex, medulla and axis are diagnostic to each species. Chemical spot tests are valuable as well. Species reviewed were Usnea ceratina Ach., Usnea longissima Ach., Usnea filipendula Stirton, Usnea cavernosa Tuck., Usnea rubicunda Stirton, Usnea arizonica Mot., Usnea cornuta Körber, Usnea fragilescens Hav. ex Lynge, Usnea wirthii Clerc, Usnea hirta (L.) F.H. Wigg., and Usnea subfloridana Stirton. He emphasized the wide variability encountered in this genus, and, as we examined the last slide of his presentation, we had the opportunity to analyze the specimen using the diagnostic criteria he had covered. A question and answer period followed, with Darrell answering questions on topics ranging from lichen dispersal to the medical uses of Usnea. A lunch of sandwiches, cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, veggies with dip, sodas, and cookies was served.

The Lichens of the Channel Islands by Cherie Bratt was the final presentation of our Symposium. Cherie curates the lichen herbarium at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. She has introduced lichenologists from around the world to these islands, five of which form the Channel Islands National Park and are therefore accessible to the public. The history of most of the Islands includes sheep and cattle ranching in the late 1800's to 1900's. Cherie began exploring the islands 20 years ago and discovered that little lichen collection had been done. The primary records were collections by Blanche Trask in the late 1800's, many of which are cited by H.E. Hasse in his 1913 publication The Lichen Flora of Southern California. Trask's personal herbarium was destroyed by a fire in Avalon. Cherie has compiled 20 years of data which gives us much information about the distribution and variety of lichens on the Channel Islands. 540 species of lichens have been collected with only 1 endemic species: Niebla ramosissima Spjut found on one slope on San Nicolas Island. Five species are reported from all eight islands: Buellia halonia (Ach.) Tuck., Caloplaca bolacina (Tuck.) Herre, Leprocaulon microscopicum (Vill.) Gams ex D. Hawksw., Physcia tenella (Scop.) D.C. and Schizopelte californica Th. Fr. Eight species are recorded from seven islands: Caloplaca coralloides (Tuck.) Hulting, Caloplaca rosei Hasse, Dendrographa minor Darbish., Reinkella parishii Hasse, Dimelaena radiata (Tuck.) Müll. Arg., Xanthoria candelaria (L.) Th. Fr., Vermilacinia ceruchoides (Rundel & Bowler) Spjut, and Vermilacinia cephalota (Tuck.) Spjut & Hale.

Cherie talked about some unusual distributions of lichens on the islands. Hypogymnia species are found only on the four northern islands and Roccella species only on the four southern islands with one unusual site on Santa Rosa Island. Some soil lichens found on the islands are usually associated with desert habitats. She explained that some lichens considered rare and endangered on the mainland (Teloschistes exilis [Michaux] Vainio, T. flavicans [Sw.] Norman) are common on the islands. She closed by emphasizing that there is still much research to be done in the field of lichens and encouraged all to find a little niche of study, to stick with it through the frustrations, to have fun, and to enjoy the satisfaction in their work.

The winners of the door prize and raffle received a lichen photo by Richard Doell. The rain was heavy at the close of the day and only a few hardy individuals went outside for the Lichen Walk in Golden Gate Park. Judy closed the symposium confirming that truly our purpose of Exposing Lichens had been accomplished.

Thanks were given to the planning committee and all those who helped provide food and set up for the day: Janet and Richard Doell, Mikki McGee, Barbara Lachelt, Susan Crutchfield, Bill Hill, Doris Baltzo, Judy Robertson, Stella Yang, Stephen Buckhout, Debbie Gillespie.

Compiled from reports by Cherie Bratt, Janet Doell, Judy Robertson, and Darrell Wright

Fungus Fair--"Fin de Siècle"

Six CALS members manned a booth for the Fin de Siècle Fungus Fair, held at the beloved Hall of Flowers (since re-dubbed "County Fair Building"), 9th Ave. entrance of Golden Gate Park, on 11th and 12th December, 1999. It was a grand time for the participants. Grand displays of mushrooms tried valiantly to steal the show from the lichens--whether or not they succeeded depended on the eyes of the beholders.

About 1000 people were treated to displays of mushrooms and other fungi from the Bay Area, gathered and culled by the members of the Mycological Society of San Francisco, which is now 50 years old. More than 250 species of mushrooms were on display in natural settings, and presentations of multimedia slide shows, cooking demonstrations and tastings, crafts, and items for sale intrigued all.

Barbara Lachelt planned and set up the main lichen display this year, with help from Janet Doell and Judy Robertson. Richard Doell, came by on Sunday to help. Bill Hill and Mikki McGee showed lichens in detail on the microscope table. Five microscopes perhaps vied successfully for attention.

Mikki McGee

Workshops

CALS Fall Workshop Series at San Francisco State University

"The Morphology of Foliose and Fruticose Lichens".

September 11, 1999.

This first workshop in the Fall Series took place at Hensill Hall Room 401 and was led by Barbara Lachelt. A variety of lichens were on display with each morphological character easily identified. Participants used drawings and explanations to become familiar with each term. After lunch we used these characters to key unknown specimens. Participants were May Chen (CNPS) Debbie Gillespie, David Herlocker, Bill Hill, Barbara Lachelt, Mikki McGee, Judy Robertson and Stella Yang.

"Squamulose Lichens"

October 16, 1999

Led by Judy Robertson, the participants spent the morning studying and comparing the morphology, reproductive structures and photobionts of various squamulose lichens. After lunch we used keys to put a name on each of the specimens. Participants were Cheryl Beyer, May Chen, Debbie Gillespie, David Herlocker, Bill Hill, Daniel Jacob, Barbara Lachelt, Lori Hubbart, Greg Jirak, Marck Menke, and Judy Robertson

"Picture-Book Microscopic Images"

November 13, 1999

Mikki McGee led this workshop. She was well prepared as she took us step by step through various methods of staining lichen sections. Preparations were taken through the stages of sectioning, soaking, clearing, staining, and mounting. Many of the illustrations we see in lichen books of microscopic features used for identifying specimens became "do-able" after attending this workshop. Participants were Norton Benner, Denise Gregory, Bill Hill, Mikki McGee, and Judy Robertson.

CALS would like to thank Dr. Dennis Desjardin at San Francisco State for providing the space and equipment for us to hold these workshops. The availability of dissecting and compound scopes and the close proximity of reference specimens in the Thiers Herbarium makes SFSU an ideal place to hold our workshops.

CALS in the News

Transect (Vol 17, No.2), the publication of the University of California Natural Reserve System, highlighted the CALS Field trip to the Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center in the East Mojave.

The article, entitled Granite Mountains Lichens No Longer Overlooked gave an overview of CALS activities on the Reserve, explained the symbiotic relationship of algae and fungi in lichens, and emphasized the uses of lichens especially in pollution monitoring. CALS has recently set up plots on the reserve which will be monitored for change over the next decades. Data will give information about the air quality in the East Mojave area. For a copy of the article contact:

Transect Editor,

Natural Reserve System,

University of California,

1111 Franklin Street, 6th Floor,

Oakland, CA 94607-5200:

Phone 510-987-0150

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Have you seen Texosporium sancti-jacobi? I am a graduate student with Dr. Bruce McCune, and I'm currently working on a status report for the rare lichen, Texosporium sancti-jacobi. Any information on collections and unvouchered sightings will be compiled in a report that will be submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and considered when assessing the federal status of the species under the ESA. I'm particularly interested in new (since 1990) sightings. Negative information is important also! Have any searches (formal or informal) been conducted for this species? I'd like to hear from anyone who has a sense of how much searching has been done in California. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Jeanne Ponzetti

ponzetti@televar.com

(509)925-5770

Volunteers Wanted:

CALS has the opportunity to work with the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) to establish management plans and ecosystem health evaluations for the US Forest Service. Emily Roberson, CNPS Senior Land Management Analyst, would like to enlist the help of CALS members so that lichens can be incorporated into this process. You can contact Emily at emilyr@cnps.org. or 510-649-0460, if you are interested in becoming involved. This is a great opportunity to bring the importance of lichen monitoring to the forefront and further the CALS mission of promoting the conservation of lichens. Several CALS members have already volunteered to help, but we particularly need volunteers to work with CNPS in the Sierras and in southern California.

Education/Outreach Committee

So that we may do a better job of educating the public about lichens, we plan to form a CALS Education/Outreach Committee. The committee's first two projects will be to develop a simple handout for use on lichen hikes, and a slide show that can be given to interested groups, e.g., CNPS chapters, around the state. The handout will be a couple of pages of basic introductory lichen information which hike leaders can distribute before the hike. Normally, it will be supplemented by a list of taxa expected to be seen on the hike. The slide show will consist of an hour's worth of slides and narrative that introduces lichens to the public. Both projects are intended as outreach tools to make the general public aware of lichens, and their importance in the ecosystem. If you are interested in serving on the Education/Outreach Committee, please contact Greg Jirak at gajirak@mcn.org, or 707.882.1655.

New book:

A Color Guidebook to Common Rocky Mountain Lichens, by Larry L. St. Clair, with photographs by the author and Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff. Keys, descriptions, and photographs for nearly 200 species, 242 pp. ISBN 0-8425-2454-1. M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, 290 MLBM, Brigham Young University, Provo UT 84602. Paperback $19.95.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, January 29, 2000

Field Trip to San Francisco Crystal Springs Watershed

CALS member Bill Freedman has been our host and leader for our two field trips into the Watershed. Bill is affiliated with the San Francisco Mycological Society, so CALS has been able to enter the area under their umbrella. Our upcoming field trip promises to be very special, as Bill reports.

I am overjoyed to report that we have just received permission to enter a segment of the Watershed seldom seen by the public in recent years. It is one of the most picturesque areas in the county. We will park in the large field on the north where Skyline Blvd. meets the end of San Bruno Ave., then car-pool to an intersection in the heart of the Watershed called "5 Points". We will hike down to Pilarcitos Lake through a Monterey Pine plantation and follow the road south to Stone Dam--the first of the dams to be built to supply water to San Francisco. It reeks with history. People who could afford a carriage or get transportation on holidays or week-ends used to come to this remote area. Concrete water receptacles were erected for the horses as well as concrete seats and areas for tables. Bring your cameras. Last time we were there we saw old signs posted on trees, some nearly covered with moss.

Because the location is one of the oldest areas used in the past, I am hoping that we might find really ancient or interesting lichens. It is such an isolated place that pollutant levels must have been low. Stone Dam itself should provide lichens and we once could cross the dam to reach the first redwood flume on the other side. I can't promise that today.

The distance from the autos to the dam is about two mostly flat miles. Good hiking shoes are recommended. Surrounded by impounded water, there is no water source there now! We bring our own.

We are limited to 35 people, so an early reservation is requested. We will be entering the Watershed at 10 and be leaving by 3 P.M.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Stella Yang or Stephen Buckhout at

yscottie@pacbell.net 408-255-6233

or Marck Menke at

menke@sfsu.edu

415-824-8959

Saturday, January 29, 2000 following the field trip to the Watershed.

Lichen Workshop, Pot-luck Dinner, CALS Birthday Celebration, General Meeting, and Lichen Travelogue

Our plans are to return from the Watershed field trip to San Francisco State University (401 Hensill Hall). Bring your lichen specimens and we will spend time identifying them using the excellent microscopes at SFSU.

At 5:30 we will hold a CALS General Meeting where you can be part of the planning for the next two years as a new slate of officers takes over. 6:00 P.M. Pot-luck dinner will be in the unique setting of a SFSU biology lab. This was quite an event two years ago. Our birthday celebration will be part of the dinner.

"Lichen Travelogue" will be the finale. Barbara Lachelt, a founding member of CALS, will take us on a trip as she explores for lichens around the world. Please contact Stella Yang at yscottie@pacbell.net or 408-255-6233 to let her know what you can bring to share at the pot luck dinner.

Wednesday February 16, 2000 7:00 P.M.

Talk on Rare and Endangered Lichens

by David Magney

University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg., University of California, Berkeley

David Magney, chairman of the CALS Conservation Committee, will talk on the subject of rare and endangered lichens. Lichen conservation has lagged behind that of vascular plants because of uncertainty about which lichens are rare and endangered. David is working with other members of CALS to put lichen conservation at the forefront. David was responsible for the effort to name Ramalina menziesii as the California State Lichen. There is no cost for the evening and refreshments will follow. If you have questions, please call Judy Robertson at 707-584-8099 or JKSRR@aol.com

Saturday February 26, 2000 10 A.M.

Field Trip to Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, Solano Co.

http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/stebbins/

CALS is joining with the Davis Botanical Society for this field trip to Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve, part of the University of California Reserve System. Located between Blue Ridge on the west and Pleasants Ridge on the east, the reserve is a 45-minute drive west of Davis or a two-hour drive northeast of San Francisco. Five or six plant communities have been identified on the preserve: grassland, savanna, chaparral, live oak woodland, and riparian woodland. Collecting reference specimens will be permitted as we will compile a list of species for the Reserve. If you are interested in participating, please contact Stella Yang or Stephen Buckhout at yscottie@pacbell.net or 408-255-6233.

March 10--12, 2000

Microbiotic Soil Crusts and Lichens of the Eastern Mojave Desert

Larry St. Clair

Location: Desert Studies Center, Mojave Desert

This short course in microbiotic soil crusts will emphasize the basic structural and functional aspects of arid land soil crust communities. We will also learn about desert lichens that are not part of the soil crust community. Classroom instruction will include information about the biological components of soil crusts, their ecological roles, the nature and dynamics of their interactions with vascular plant communities, the ecological consequences of damaging soil crust communities, and their potential for reclamation. In the laboratory we will discuss and practice identifying some of the more prominent members of the soil crust community and other desert lichens. A day long field trip will investigate microbiotic crust communities at several locations in the eastern Mojave Desert. For more information please call Staci Markos or Betsy Ringrose at (510) 643-7008 or e-mail

smarkos@socrates.berkeley.edu

Course fee: $160 members / $175 non-members. There will be an additional facilities use fee (includes room and board and will be billed approximately 60 days prior to the course).

Wednesday, March 15, 2000 7:00 P.M.

Talk on Bryophytes

Mona Bourell

University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg., University of California, Berkeley

We find many lichens growing on moss. Sometimes, we have to ask the question "Is it lichen or is it moss?" Only close examination gives an answer. Find out about mosses from Mona Bourell, a founding member of CALS, and Senior Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Botany, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. She will give a slide presentation of bryophytes. After this evening we will be able to put some names on those plants that are not lichens. There is no charge for the evening. Refreshments will be served. Please contact Judy Robertson, 707-584-8099 or JKSRR@aol.com if you have questions.

Saturday, March 25, 2000

Workshop: Lichen Identification/Use of Keys/Specimen Preparation

401 Hensill Hall, San Francisco State University

10 A.M. to 4 P.M.

This workshop will be an opportunity to identify your own specimens using high quality dissecting and compound scopes. We will use a variety of lichen keys, observe herbarium specimens for comparison and identification and discuss specimen preparation and storage. This workshop was originally scheduled for December 1999 but cancelled due to conflict with the San Francisco Mycological Society Fungus Fair. If you attend the San Francisco Watershed or Stebbins Cold Canyon Preserve field trips, please bring any collected specimens for identification.

For more information contact:

Judy Robertson,

707-584-8099 or

JKSRR@aol.com.

Saturday April 8, 2000 10:00 A.M.

Field Trip to Rock Springs, Mt. Tamalpais, Marin County

Join us for a lichen walk around Rock Springs, high on Mt. Tamalpais. Barbara Lachelt has led many trips to this area and knows the lichen flora well. We will meet in the parking area at Rock Springs at 10 A.M. The trip will end shortly after lunch. Please contact Stella Yang or Stephen Buckhout at yscottie@pacbell.net or 408-255-6233 if you are interested in participating.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000, 7:00 P.M.

Algae in lichens and out

Richard Moe

University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg., University of California, Berkeley

Phycologist and Bulletin Managing Editor Dick Moe will take us into the realm of algae. We will learn about algae associated with fungi in lichens as well as free-living algae. There is no charge for the evening. Refreshments will be served. Please contact Judy Robertson, 707-584-8099 or JKSRR@aol.com if you have questions.

Wednesday, May 17, 2000, 7:00 P.M.

To Be Announced

University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bldg., University of California, Berkeley

June 16--19, 2000

Field trip to James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve, Riverside Co.

http://www.jamesreserve.edu/factoids.html

James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve is part of the University of California Reserve System. Located in Riverside County, the Reserve is on an alluvial bench at the lower end of Hall Canyon, a steep, western flank of Black Mountain. In this remote wilderness setting, we will explore habitats of mixed conifer and hardwood forest, montane chaparral, and montane riparian forest for lichens. Collecting will be permitted as we will provide the Reserve with a list of lichens collected. There will be dormitory style accommodations, kitchen facilities, showers, and a lab-museum room. The cost will be very reasonable with an overnight stay of approximately $10 plus meals. If you would like to attend please contact Stella Yang or Stephen Buckhout at

yscottie@pacbell.net

or 408-255-6233.

October 6--8, 2000

Field Trip to Hopland Field Research Station

The University of California Hopland Field Research Station is located in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains, part of the Coast Ranges, and is about a 2.5 hour drive from the Bay Area. We will explore woodland and chaparral for lichens. We can collect reference specimens to provide a lichen list for the Station. Bunkhouse accommodations with cooking facilities will be available and the cost will be very reasonable.

http://endeavor.des.ucdavis.edu/hrec/overview.html

Look for more information in the CALS Summer Bulletin.

Trevor Goward. The Lichens of British Columbia. Illustrated Keys. Part 2--Fruticose species. 319 + v pages, 14 figures, about 450 line drawings of key characters, 128 distribution maps. British Columbia Ministry of Forests Research Program Special Report No. 9. Crown Publications, 521 Fort Street, Victoria, B.C. V8W 1E7, 250-386-4636 (place orders at this telephone number). 1999. Price $55 Canadian (=$33 U.S.) Paperback.

Here Goward sustains the high quality of the first book (Foliose Species, Special Report No. 8, 1994). Part 2 adheres to the same basic format with the author's line drawings of key characters in the margins of the keys near the appropriate couplets. The keys to Cladonia, Stereocaulon, and Usnea should be especially valuable for dealing with those difficult groups. In the case of the key to Usnea, which is not at all identical to that in Halonen, Clerc, Goward, Brodo and Wulff (Synopsis of the genus Usnea [lichenized Ascomycetes] in British Columbia, The Bryologist 101: 36-60, 1998), it would have been better to have sketched a thallus with enough cortex sliced away to expose the full width of the interior of the branch so that the CMA ratios might be better appreciated. The illustrated key to photobionts looks potentially very helpful, and the equally well-illustrated section on identifying lichens will make good reading even for some seasoned workers. Almost as a bonus, the book contains a thorough treatment of Caliciales, included on the basis of their minutely fruticose stalked apothecia. As I noted for Part 1 (BCALS 1[2]: 4, 1994), if a copy of this had not come into my hands, I would definitely send for one.

Darrell Wright

Lichen Communications--E-mail, the Internet, and Computer Cams

Bill Hill

Just within the past 5 years since the founding of CALS, it seems everyone has begun communicating electronically. Even with the first few issues of our Bulletin, Darrell Wright was performing his editorial tasks with e-mail, and now there may be only a few members who are not online. Although we still have the CALS Bulletin, the Bryologist, and the Lichenologist delivered on paper, lichenology internet websites are sprouting up rapidly all over the planet. We have our own for the California Lichen Society, thanks to our technologically up-to-date editor, Dick Moe

(ucjeps.herb.berkeley.edu/rlmoe/cals.html).

You can find the e-mail address for nearly anyone who has chosen to be known lichenologically at

www.botany.hawaii.edu/lichen/

(the International Association of Lichenologists) or

www.botanik.biologie.uni-muenchen.de/

botsamml/lias/emaillist.html

(Botanische Staatssammlung München, Germany).

E-mail mailing lists have become a standard vehicle for online discussion of a myriad of topics, whereby anyone who has subscribed to a "mailing list" can send a message to all others on the list. Clifford Smith, veteran lichenologist in Hawaii, has already for years hosted the lichens-l e-mail discussion list (subscribe by e-mailing the message "SUBSCRIBE LICHENS-L [your first name] [your last name]" to listproc@hawaii.edu. Once subscribed, you can write to everyone on the list by writing e-mail to "LICHENS-L@hawaii.edu" ). The latest in identification keys, immediately available on the web and often complete with color pictures, are increasing in number by the day. For instance, Clifford Wetmore has an excellent compendium on Caloplaca (www.tc.umn.edu/~wetmore/Calop.html),

and Harrie Sipman in Germany is attempting to keep up with a list of online keys (www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/bgbm/staff/

wiss/Sipman+H/keys/default.htm ).

This is a moving target, however. For example, a couple of months ago when I went to view what I thought were great pictures of some Usneas on Eric Peterson's website at Oregon State University (ucs.orst.edu/~peterser/),

his whole Usnea key was gone! Instead he had a thorough treatment of his current interest--the Caliciales

(ucs.orst.edu/~peterser/ Caliciales.html ),

with links to some great pictures by Steve Selva at the University of Maine at Fort Kent

(academic.umfk.maine.edu/lichens/stubble.htm).

Speaking of great pictures, I think nothing rivals the fantastic images at the Sharnoffs' lichen website (www.lichen.com/). I can't wait to see their book of North American Lichens in print! But as graduate students come and go from universities and faculty move around, their websites come and go also. For instance, Eric Peterson is already warning us that his future "website" will be

www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Campus/2056/.

The internet may have given us "instant access" but as of yet, it is not as "permanent" as printed paper.

Computer Cams and Pictures of Lichens

Given that lichens are such a visual experience (well, we don't listen to them like we do to birds...), I am glad to see that good pictures are getting easier to come by with our new communications medium. It has been so frustrating to imagine what a specimen might look like given just printed text. Thus, I was elated to find a 640x480 pixel computer camera, referred to as a cam, for $55 at a local computer show. These are the little "eyeballs" that you put on your computer to send pictures of yourself to your friends by e-mail. This particular cam (VCAM model CU-98 "Eye For PC" USB Digital Camera, manufactured in Taiwan) plugs into the "new" Universal Serial Bus of a PC computer with a CPU of Pentium or above and requires the Windows98 operating system. But there are increasingly many cam versions available on the market for different computers. The point is--the technology is here now. Using a shop vacuum cleaner hose attachment, cut and milled appropriately as a holder with the help of a friend, I was able to mount the cam onto the eyepiece of a microscope (with a large rubber band, and hose clamp to hold the modified attachment on the eyepiece). Where some microscopes had eyepieces too large in diameter (30mm) for the modified vacuum cleaner attachment (which accommodated 25-28mm eyepieces), a workable holder could be made from a cut-up neck of a 64fl. oz. plastic Snapple® drink bottle. Now that is economy in recycling! An image can be "acquired" or "scanned" into an image editing program on the computer (such as Microsoft Photo Editor, Corel PhotoHouse, Adobe Photoshop, etc. or software that comes with the cam), cropped or otherwise edited there, and then saved as a file in some image format. Of the many image formats, I find that "jpg" is the most universal over the internet, and compact while still retaining picture quality. "Bmp" or "bitmap" format retains the most detail but gives you considerably larger files, and not everyone seems to be able to decipher them. "Gif" format is also compact and common on the internet, but has a reduced color resolution. Although these cam images are not the resolution of those obtained with "professional" (and very expensive) photomicrography equipment, they are good enough for e-mailing colleagues and experts with a quick closeup of a lichen that you are puzzling over.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

At CALS recent Symposium "Lichens Exposed" I was impressed with the diversity of life forms we see in lichens. What a mystery that the combination of fungus and alga can result in specimens so different as leaf-like to crust, bright orange to black, near microscopic to feet long. This reminds me of the diversity in our membership as well. Students, professional lichenologists, advanced amateurs, beginners, those who see the beauty of lichens through the lens of a camera, those who tally their numbers and weight in survey, those who struggle to name and identify, those who donate freely time and resources, those with long vision, those with special expertise, those with much energy and dedication, those who are willing to be a member of CALS only to receive the Bulletin. Different, yet we all share a common interest in lichens. As I review 1999, I feel CALS has been very successful. We have hosted seminars by prominent lichenologists Professor David Richardson and Dr. Larry St. Clair; sponsored our Fall Workshop Series at San Francisco State University; travelled to San Francisco Crystal Springs Watershed, Pepperwood Preserve, San Francisco Bay for an algae field trip, Lincoln Park, San Simeon State Park, Samoa Peninsula and Horse Mountain. We hosted our first student-led workshop and set up permanent lichen monitoring plots at the Sweeney Granite Mountains Reserve. Our "Lichens Exposed" Symposium held in November at the California Academy of Sciences was very well attended and received.As this term of office ends, I would like to thank Board Members Darrell Wright, Cherie Bratt, Bill Hill, and Dick Moe, and our Editors, Dick Moe, William Sanders, Isabelle Tavares, Shirley Tucker, and Darrell Wright. I would especially like to acknowledge Dick Moe and Isabelle Tavares for the fine quality of the CALS Bulletins and thank Dick Moe for maintaining the CALS Website. I give special thanks to Janet Doell who has been an invaluable mentor to me these last 2 years and I would like to thank every member of CALS for your participation and your support.The goals of CALS are to promote the study, appreciation and conservation of lichens. Each member does this in his or her unique way. As CALS moves into the Millenium, I look forward to our upcoming meetings, field trips and workshops and an increase in conservation efforts and education outreach. My challenge to you is to expand the circle of "Lichens Exposed", for "exposing" more people to the study and appreciation of these unique plants is the key to their preservation.

Judy Robertson