Rare lichen unique to Florida discovered in museum collections, may be extinct
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Scientists have found a new species of fleshy verdigris lichen, thanks to DNA analysis of museum specimens. Misidentified by its original collectors, the lichen is only known from 32 specimens collected in North and Central Florida scrubland between 1885 and 1985. Now the hunt is on to find it in the wild - if it still exists.
The lichen, named Cora timucua in honor of Florida's Timucua people, is critically endangered, even more so than the federally protected Florida perforate reindeer lichen, and possibly extinct. Researchers are holding out hope that C. timucua may persist in undisturbed pockets of the state's dwindling pine scrub habitat, though recent searches came up empty.
"The million-dollar question is 'Where is this lichen?'" said Laurel Kaminsky, a digitization manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History and co-author of the study. "The optimist in me says it's still out there."
Kaminsky said the sparse information recorded by the lichen's collectors makes it difficult to retrace their steps. More widespread in the early 20th century, C. timucua was collected only from the Ocala National Forest and O'Leno State Park after 1968, two of Florida's last remaining scrub ecosystems. Citrus groves and urban developments have replaced up to 90% of the state's sand pine scrub.
"If it's anywhere, it's going to take a lot of looking in very specific habitats to find it," Kaminsky said.
Affectionately dubbed "Timucua heart lichen," the new species resembles a shelf fungus and is about the size of a sand dollar with scalloped edges. It can be distinguished from wood-rotting fungi by its texture: felty and papery, with curved lobes and a cracked underside.
But its color is an enigma. The lichen is light gray when dry, but specimens turn a deep blue-green and bleed a reddish-brown pigment when wet in a laboratory setting. Without photos and detailed descriptions of the lichen in nature, scientists don't yet know how it reacts to moisture in the wild.
"In general, people take nature for granted, and the Timucua heart lichen story might tell us sometimes we are too late," said Manuela Dal Forno, senior author of the study and a lichenologist at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. "Right now, we need everybody's help in trying to locate this lichen in Florida."
Kaminsky said Timucua heart lichen likely prefers old-growth pine scrub habitat, which has taller trees and established populations of native Florida plants, such as rusty lyonia, a shrub characterized by reddish fibers lining its leaves. But hikers should avoid collecting any potential specimens they find: Instead, they can photograph the lichen and upload images to the END
The lichen, named Cora timucua in honor of Florida's Timucua people, is critically endangered, even more so than the federally protected Florida perforate reindeer lichen, and possibly extinct. Researchers are holding out hope that C. timucua may persist in undisturbed pockets of the state's dwindling pine scrub habitat, though recent searches came up empty.
"The million-dollar question is 'Where is this lichen?'" said Laurel Kaminsky, a digitization manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History and co-author of the study. "The optimist in me says it's still out there."
Kaminsky said the sparse information recorded by the lichen's collectors makes it difficult to retrace their steps. More widespread in the early 20th century, C. timucua was collected only from the Ocala National Forest and O'Leno State Park after 1968, two of Florida's last remaining scrub ecosystems. Citrus groves and urban developments have replaced up to 90% of the state's sand pine scrub.
"If it's anywhere, it's going to take a lot of looking in very specific habitats to find it," Kaminsky said.
Affectionately dubbed "Timucua heart lichen," the new species resembles a shelf fungus and is about the size of a sand dollar with scalloped edges. It can be distinguished from wood-rotting fungi by its texture: felty and papery, with curved lobes and a cracked underside.
But its color is an enigma. The lichen is light gray when dry, but specimens turn a deep blue-green and bleed a reddish-brown pigment when wet in a laboratory setting. Without photos and detailed descriptions of the lichen in nature, scientists don't yet know how it reacts to moisture in the wild.
"In general, people take nature for granted, and the Timucua heart lichen story might tell us sometimes we are too late," said Manuela Dal Forno, senior author of the study and a lichenologist at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. "Right now, we need everybody's help in trying to locate this lichen in Florida."
Kaminsky said Timucua heart lichen likely prefers old-growth pine scrub habitat, which has taller trees and established populations of native Florida plants, such as rusty lyonia, a shrub characterized by reddish fibers lining its leaves. But hikers should avoid collecting any potential specimens they find: Instead, they can photograph the lichen and upload images to the END