Plants of the Gila Wilderness
Presented in Association with the
Western New Mexico University Department
of Natural Sciences
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi T.H. Nash & Elix
No common name
The genus Xanthoparmelia contains many species, some of which are quite similar and require special
chemistry to differentiate. Using Nash's "Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region" this lichen keys
to Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi in a key that does not make use of special techniques. I don't have the ability
to perform thin layer chromatography to look for the correct organic acids in the medulla to be 100% certain of the ID.
The foliose thallus is densely isidiate with complicated, coralloid branching. The younger isidia are globose to cylindrical.
Importantly, the lower surface is black with wide lobes. The medulla is K-. X. nigrolavicola is similar but
the isidia are cylindrical and only sparsely branched. We found Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi at middle elevation
on volcanic rock.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, macro of habit, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, macro of habit, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, macro of habit, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, black undersurface of thallus, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, photomicrograph of young isidia, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
Xanthoparmelia nigroweberi, photomicrograph of older coralloid branching isidia, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard,
Gila NF, Grant Cty, along Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road above the box, about 2 mi N of Pinos Altos, December 15, 2024
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