Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Cladia aggregata
cladia, Cladia
Primary thallus not seen, evanescent, of lobulate-papillate squamules (according Ahti, 2000); pseudopodetia erect, forming cushions or dense mats, dark brown or pale yellowish, 4-4.5 cm tall, hollow, terete to ± flattened or angulate, some parts, when older, densely branched; branching anisotomic, dichotomous; surface corticate, glossy or matt; usually abundantly perforate; perforations frequently ellipsoid; pycnidia with hyaline jelly; apothecia not seen. Chemistry: P, K or + yellow, C, KC, UV; barbatic and 4-0-demethylbarbatic acid (Chemotype I).
The cushions or dense mats of this species may at first be mistaken for a reindeer lichen but, the genus Cladia is easily recognized because it has completely corticate pseudopodetia with abundant ellipsoid perforations. According to Ahti (2000) the fertile pseudopodetia typically represent the thickest branches. Fertile material was, however, not encountered among the Galapagos specimens and this observation cannot be confirmed here.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Ascomycota
Class
Lecanoromycetes
Order
Lecanorales
Family
Cladoniaceae
Genus
Cladia
Species
aggregata
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Native
- Weber, W.A. (1986) The Lichen Flora of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Mycotaxon 27: 451-497.
- Elix, J.A. McCarthy, P.M. (1998) Catalogue of the Lichens of the Smaller Pacific Islands. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 70, J. Cramer, Berlin, Stuttgart, 361pp.
- Weber, W.A. (1981) Lichenes Exsiccati, distributed by the University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, Fasc. 1-15, nos. 1-600, 1961-1979. Mycotaxon 13(1): 85-104.
- Ahti, T. (2000) Cladoniaceae. Flora Neotropica Monograph 78, 362 pp., The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
- Yánez-Ayabaca, A. Ahti, T., Bungartz, F. (2013) The Family Cladoniaceae (Lecanorales) in the Galapagos Islands Phytotaxa 129 (1): 1–33
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Cladia aggregata", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=2513. Accessed 1 May 2025.