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Edible lichens are lichens that have a cultural history of use as a food. Although almost all lichen are edible (with some notable poisonous exceptions like the wolf lichen , powdered sunshine lichen , and the ground lichen [ 1 ] ), not all have a cultural history of usage as an edible lichen.
In identification key reference literature, the outcome of chemical spot tests serves as a primary characteristic for determining the species of lichens. There are several other less frequently used spot tests of more limited use that are employed in specific situations, such as to distinguish between certain species.
The lichen's reproductive structures, or ascomata, are usually brightly coloured, and typically in the form of an apothecium – a wide, open, saucer-shaped or cup-shaped fruit body. In most species, these apotheciate ascomata have a lecanorine form, in which the apothecial disc is surrounded by a pale rim of tissue known as a thalline margin.
Usnea filipendula – one of about 20,000 described species of lichen. The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to lichens.. Lichen – composite organism made up of multiple species – a fungal partner, one or more photosynthetic partners, which can be either green algae or cyanobacteria, and, in at least 52 genera of lichens, a yeast. [1]
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Reichlingia americana contains notable quantities of 2'-O-methylperlatolic acid, which has been observed in several other genera of Arthoniomycetes, but R. americana distinguishes itself from other Arthoniomycetes due to its unique white, cracked, thallus with immersed apothecia and unique spore morphology (spores are submuriform with a terminal cell bigger than the others). [1]
Melanelia hepatizon, commonly known as the rimmed camouflage lichen or the rimmed brown-shield, is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. [2] Its thallus , ranging in colour from brown to black, features narrow, elongated lobes that can be flat, convex, or concave.
A lichen's usefulness as a medicine is often related to the lichen secondary compounds that are abundant in most lichen thalli. Different lichens produce a wide variety of these compounds, most of which are unique to lichens and many of which are antibiotic. It has been estimated that 50% of all lichen species have antibiotic properties. [3]