description
Lungwort lichen is a foliose lichen of the Lobariaceae family. It grows as a
leaf-like thallus—meaning a plant body without differentiation between leaf and stem, and lacking true roots and a vascular system.
The lichen is green, leathery, and on its upper surface is lobed with a pattern of ridges
depressions. When the lichen is moist is appears bright green but when dry it
becomes brownish and papery.
This lichen often has fine layers of
hairs, a tomentum, on its lower surface. The cortex, the outer protective
layer on the thallus surface, is roughly comparable to the epidermis of a
green plant. The thallus is typically 5–15 cm in
diameter, with individual lobes 1–3 cm wide and up to
7 cm long.
Lungwort lichen's asexual reproductive structures soredia and isidia are
present on the thallus surface. Very small pockets of cyanobacteria (cephalodia) are often present on the lower surface
of the thallus and these spots are conspicuously darker than the green surface
of the thallus. Being a foliose lichen, the thallus is only loosely
attached to the surface on which it grows.
common names & nomenclature
The word lemon may be Middle Eastern in its origin.
The common English names containing “lung” are in reference to the
appearance of the leaves. They seem to resemble lungs and bronchi.
Also known as:
tree lungwort, oak lung, lung moss, lungwort lichen, jerusalem cowslip, lobaria pulmonaria
