Opuscula Philolichenum, 8: 1-7. 2010

Opuscula Philolichenum, 8: 1-7. 2010. A brief lichen foray in the Mount Washington alpine zone – including Claurouxia chalybeioides, Porina norrlinii and Stereocaulon leucophaeopsis new to North America 1 ALAN M. FRYDAY ABSTRACT. – A preliminary investigation of the lichen biota of Mt. Washington (New Hampshire) is presented based on two days spent on the mountain in August 2008. Claurouxia chalybeioides, Porina norrlinii and Stereocaulon leucophaeopsis are reported for the first time from North America and Frutidella caesioatra is reported for the first time from the United States. A full list of the species recorded during the visit is also presented. INTRODUCTION Mt. Washington, at 1918 m, is the highest peak in northeast North America and has the most alpine tundra of any site in the eastern United States. In spite of this, its lichen biota is very poorly documented with the only published accounts to specifically mention Mt. Washington or the White Mountains by name obtained from the Recent Literature on Lichens web-site (Culberson et al. 2009), which includes all lichenological references since 1536, being an early work by Farlow (1884), and the ecological work by Bliss (1963, 1966), which included a few macrolichens. However, the mountain was a favorite destination of Edward Tuckerman and many records can be extracted from his published taxonomic works (e.g., Tuckerman 1845, 1847, 1882, 1888). More recently Richard Harris and William Buck of the New York Botanical Garden, and Clifford Wetmore of the University of Minnesota have collected lichens on the mountain. Their records have not been published, although the report Wetmore produced for the U.S. Forest Service is available online (Wetmore 1989). Wetmore lists the species he recorded, along with an extensive literature list and a list of species reported from the White Mountains in the literature. Wetmore concentrated his survey on the Presidential Dry River and the Great Gulf Wilderness Areas but, unfortunately, it is not possible from his report to determine from where in these areas the species he reported were collected. Here I report on a brief visit to the alpine zone of Mt. Washington in 2008. The first day (August 24) was organized as a guided walk for the Friends of the Farlow Herbarium, whereas the second (August 27) was a solo visit by the author. Both started from the summit. Unless otherwise stated all collections were made by the author and are deposited in the herbarium of Michigan State University (MSC). Species marked with an asterisk (*) are dealt with in the “Notes on Species Recorded” section THE LICHEN BIOTA The first day was mostly spent investigated the boulder field west of the summit. Most records were from either the large boulders or small, loose pebbles between them. Among the species recorded here were Cladonia luteoalba*, Clauzadeana macula, Lecanora chlorophaeoides*, Lecanora placidensis, Micarea marginata*, Rhizocarpon anaperum*, R. intersitum*, Schaereria cinereorufa, Stereocaulon leucophaeopsis* (first NA report) and S. nanodes. It was interesting to note that small pebbles among the boulders supported similar lichen species to small pebbles in areas affected by late snow-lie on Katahdin (Maine) but that Stereocaulon 1 ALAN M. FRYDAY — Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824–1312, U.S.A. – e–mail: [email protected] 1 tornense/plicatile, which is frequent on Katahdin, was replaced here by S. nanodes, which is very uncommon on Katahdin (Hinds et al. 2009). This could be due to a) the different rock type (schist as opposed to Katahdin’s granite); b) the somewhat higher elevation of Mt. Washington; or c) the different geographical position. Explanation a) is unlikely because S. plicatile/tornense is frequent on schistose rocks in the British Isles, whereas S. nanodes is rare, and explanation b) is also unlikely because S. nanodes is not considered a high-altitude specialist species whereas S. plicatile/tornense is. This leaves explanation c). Mt Washington is c. 175 km further south than Katahdin but also nearer the Atlantic Ocean, giving it a less northerly but more oceanic climate. It is probable that the more southern location is the more important of the two because, in Europe, S. plicatile/tornense is known to have a more northerly and oceanic distribution than S. nanodes. An attempt was also made to find the outcrop of “lime-rich rock” (Boott Member) reported just south of Lake of the Clouds (Billings 1946, Bliss 1963). On the way Protothelenella corrosa* was collected from a damp horizontal crevice in a schistose rock face beside the Crawford Trail about 1 km east of Lake of the Clouds and an extensive colony of Opegrapha gyrocarpa* was noted on a damp, shaded rock face nearer Lake of the Clouds. Unfortunately, by the time we reached Lake of the Clouds there was only time to make a very cursory inspection of the area surrounding the AMC Hut where Acarospora sinopica, Baeomyces placophyllus and Thamnolia vermicularis s. lat. were recorded. On the second day a seep at the low point of the ridge between Mt Washington and Mt. Clay was investigated. This proved to be a rich site where two species new to North America and one new to the U.S.A. were discovered. Claurouxia chalybeioides* (first NA report) was growing directly on damp rock, along with much ‘Toninia’ squalescens* (third NA locality after Mt. Marcy and Katahdin; Coppins & Fryday 2006), and smaller amounts of Frutidella caesioatra* (new to U.S.A), Helocarpon crassipes*, Lecidella wulfenii and Porina norrlinii* (first NA report) growing over bryophytes. Also visited on the second day were Ball Crag (Nelson Crag Trail), where small pebbles were found to support Carbonea vorticosa* and Fuscidea praeruptorum, and the head of Tuckerman Ravine, where a scree slope on the south side was investigated. This had much the same general lichen biota as that found on the first day, but additional species of interest were ‘Lecidea’ commaculans* (second NA record), a Lecidea sp.* with cephalodia and Helocarpon crassipes growing directly on rock. CONCLUSION In two days of field work, with little preparation, three species new to North America and one new to the U.S.A. were discovered. On returning to Michigan State University I searched the herbarium for collections from the alpine zone of Mt Washington and discovered a collection of Catillaria contristans (wrongly identified as Biatora hypnophila) made by an unknown collector in 1880 (possibly Tuckerman) and labeled just “Mt. Washington”. This species was recently reported as new to North America from Katahdin (Fryday 2006). The list of species presented here (Appendix I) in no way represents the complete list of species reported from Mt. Washington because only a very cursory attempt has been made to trace previous reports either in the literature or from herbarium specimens. There is undoubtedly much more to be found in the alpine zone of Mt Washington and the other peaks of the Presidential range, and there is little doubt that more focused field work would reveal much of interest. There are also several large collections from the Presidentials in herbaria—primarily the collections of Tuckerman in the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard (FH), but also more recent collections in New York (NY) and Minnesota (MIN)—and a thorough investigation of these would probably also revel much of interest. A thorough literature search would also reveal many additional records, but these would need to be checked against the original collections to verify that they were correctly identified. NOTES ON SPECIES RECORDED Carbonea vorticosa (Flörke) Hertel This species usually has a brown hypothecium and narrow spores. However, collections from loose pebbles near Ball Crag had a dark blue hypothecium and one collection also had broader spores. 2 Cladonia luteoalba A. Wilson & Wheldon This is a distinctive species because of the bright yellow, arachnoid lower surface of the basal squamules. It was not included by Hinds & Hinds (2007) and is indicated by Brodo et al. (2001) and Goward (1999) as being a strictly western species in North America. Unfortunately, this was not realized at the time and a voucher was not collected. It was seen once growing on soil among boulder to the west of the summit of Mt. Washington Claurouxia chalybeioides (Nyl.) D. Hawksw. New to North America. This species is characterized by its blue-gray areolate thallus and apothecia with a prominent proper margin. Microscopically it is distinguished by its carbonaceous exciple and hypothecium, simple moniliform paraphyses, ascus type (elongate-clavate, strongly thickened at the apex, with a densely I+ blue color subtending a conspicuous I– apical cushion) and small, simple ascospores, 4–9 × 3–4 µm (Gilbert & Hawksworth 2009). In Europe this is an uncommon species of vertical, damp, siliceous rock faces, and this was the habitat in which it was seen on Mt. Washington. Frutidella caesioatra (Schaer.) Kalb This is the first report of this species from the United States. In North America it has previously been reported only from Greenland, the Hudson Bay area (Thomson 1997) and Newfoundland (J. Lendemer pers. comm.). It is a bryicolous species characterized by a granular, KC+ orange, UV+ blue- white thallus with sphaerophorin and thiophanic acid, and adnate apothecia with a bluish-gray pruina (Gilbert 2009). Helocarpon crassipes Th. Fr. A bryicolous species with a scattered circum-arctic distribution. In the eastern United States it has previously been reported from only Mt. Marcy and Katahdin. It was also collected growing directly on rocks from above Tuckerman Ravine. Lecanora chlorophaeodes Nyl. This is a distinctive species of exposed, alpine, siliceous rocks. It is characterized by its thallus of dispersed to contiguous, convex, pale yellow-green areoles with a rough surface and sessile apothecia with an entire to crenulate thalline margin.

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