Montana Field Guide

Thallus minutely fruticose, erect, mostly 3-10(20) mm tall, cream to grayish, basal branches becoming dark gray to gray brown at the tips, richly branched, corticate; main branches densely tomentose with fine whitish or hyaline hairs; podetia solid; apothecia unknown; and chemical spot tests negative (McCune and Geiser 2009).

TAXONOMY AND NOMENCLATURE
Lobaria amplissima is the accepted scientific name for Lobaria species previously decribed as "dendriscocaulon". The term "dendriscocaulon" was applied to many foliose species in different genera where individuals contain a cyanobacterial photobiont and exhibit a fruticose growth. They show dramatically different morphology, may grow side-by-side with the 'normal' individuals, and may contain different algal partners growing within different portions of the same fungal thallus (Widipedika 2025). The biochemistry of the two forms are very different, but the DNA sequences from the fungus and the photobiont can be distinguished using different primers for DNA sequencing.

Montana has six Lobaria species, of which all but one is categized as a state Species of Concern. They are distinguished by the following characteristics:

Lobaria amplissima - Large Lungwort, SOC
* Growth Form: Minutely fruticose and erect. Tiny.
* Upper Surface: Creamy tan to pale grayish tan (dry). Smooth to irregularly wrinkled.
* Reproduction: Lacking apothecia and soredia.
* Photobiont: Cyanobacterial.
* Lower Surface: Coarsely mottled in color. No small, white spots (pseudocyphellae).

Lobaria scrobiculata - Textured Lungwort, SOC
* Growth Form: Large foliose.
* Upper Surface: Yellowish-tinged pale green to olive (dry). Weakly reticulate-ridged or undulating
* Reproduction: Sorediate. Apothecia rare.
* Photobiont: Cyanobacterial. No internal cephalodia.
* Lower Surface: Coarsely mottled in color. Densely tomentose with bare patches and lacking small, white spots (pseudocyphellae).
* Chemistry: Medulla K+ yellow to orange, KC+ red
* Note: Closest look-alike to L. hallii, especially when wet.

Lobaria anomala - Netted Lungwort, SOC
* Growth Form: Large foliose.
* Upper Surface: Light or dark brown (dry) with a network of ridges.
* Reproduction: White, gray, or blue-gray soredia on ridges of upper surface.
* Photobiont: Cyanobacterial.
* Lower Surface: Coarsely mottled in color. Light brown tomentum with scattered small, white spots (pseudocyphellae).
* Chemistry: Cortex K-. Medulla K- or K+ yellow.

Lobaria hallii - Gray Lungwort, SOC
* Growth Form: Large foliose.
* Upper Surface: Steel Gray - gray to brownish gray (dry). Rough and scabrous with often sparse tiny and fine hairs (tomentum) – use strong hand-lens to examine towards lobe tips.
* Reproduction: Soredia occur in roundish soralia on surface and margins. Apothecia uncommon.
* Photobiont: Cyanobacterial.
* Lower Surface: Pale brown or whitish tomentum.
* Chemistry: Medulla K-
* Note: Closest look-alike to L. scrobiculata, especially when wet.

Lobaria linita - Cabbage Lungwort, SOC
* Growth Form: Large foliose.
* Upper Surface: greenish to brownish or brownish gray
* Reproduction: Lacking soredia, isidia, or lobules. Apothecia common.
* Photobiont: Green algal. Internal cephalodia with cyanobacteria.
* Lower Surface: Tomentum light-colored with pale bare swellings. Black veins.
* Chemistry: Medulla K-

Lobaria pulmonaria - Lungwort
* Growth Form: Large foliose.
* Upper Surface: pale greenish to olive or brownish (dry). Strongly and coarsely reticulate-ridged.
* Photobiont: Green algal. Internal cephalodia with cyanobacteria.
* Lower Surface: Light-colored, tomentose with bare swellings.
* Reproduction: Sorediate and/or isidiate. Lobules sometimes present on older individuals. Apothecia uncommon.
* Chemistry: Medulla K+ yellow to orange, KC-

On a rock (weakly calcareous) face in a Pseudotsuga-Holodiscus forest.

None identified.