Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Ramalina complanata
ramalina, Ramalina
Although no Ramalina specimens from COLO were available for comparison, we suspect that all material reported by Weber (1986) as R. complanata belongs to R. aspera. The two species were in the past often confused. Material of R. complanata s.str. in COLO was probably reported as R. denticulata. In comparison with R. aspera thallus lobes of R. complanata are only moderately broadened. They are never hollow or inflated and their medulla typically reacts K+ yellow, slowly turning red (salazinic acid). As in R. aspera, the thallus surface of R. complanata has abundant tuberculate pseudocyphellae. Ramalina darwiniana has a similar chemistry; it also reacts K+ yellow, slowly turning red (salazinic acid). The species was previously not recognized and is described below as new. In contrast to R. complanata, R. darwiniana has lobes that are shiny, and distinctly canaliculate. These lobes are occasionally anastomosing and thus forming holes; the lobe tips are typically curled backwards like shepherds’ crooks. Unlike R. aspera or R. complanata, which have a densely tuberculate pseudocyphellate surface, pseudocyphellae of R. darwiniana are typically restricted to tubercules along the lobe margins.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Ascomycota
Class
Lecanoromycetes
Order
Lecanorales
Family
Ramalinaceae
Genus
Ramalina
Species
complanata
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Ramalina indica auct. non Fr., Ramalina subasperata auct. non Nyl., Ramalina interponens auct. non Nyl., Ramalina subfraxinea auct. non Nyl., fide Elix & McCarthy (1998)
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Corticolous, rarely saxicolous, from the coastal throughout the dry and into the transition zone, often abundant.
- Aptroot, A. Bungartz, F. (2007) The Lichen Genus Ramalina on the Galapagos. The Lichenologist 39: 519-542.
- Dodge, C.W. (1936) Lichens of the G. Allan Hancock Expedition of 1934, collected by Wm. R. Taylor. Hancock Pacific Expeditions 3(3): 33-46.
- Elix, J.A. McCarthy, P.M. (1998) Catalogue of the Lichens of the Smaller Pacific Islands. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 70, J. Cramer, Berlin, Stuttgart, 361pp.
- Farlow, W.G. (1902) Lichens. In: B.L. Robinson: Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Amerc. Acad. Arts Sc. 38(4): 83-89, N.S. 14 (Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapagos Islands)
- Stewart, A. (1912) Expedition of the California Academy of Sciences to the Galapagos Islands 1905-1906. No. 7: Notes on the Lichens of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 4th Series, 1(7): 431-446.
- 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.
- Weber, W.A. (1966) Lichenology and Bryology in the Galápagos Islands, with Check Lists of the Lichens and Bryophytes Thus Far Reported. In: Bowman, R.I. (ed.): The Galápagos. Proceedings of the Symposium of the Galápagos International Scientific Project, University of California Press, Berkeley, p. 197-200.
- Weber, W.A. (1986) The Lichen Flora of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Mycotaxon 27: 451-497.
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Ramalina complanata", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=3316. Accessed 31 October 2026.