General:
Common Name: The Centipede Lichens. Descriptive of the elongate lobes and cilia that line the lobe margins in most species.
Small to medium stratified foliose lichens, corticate above, corticate or not below, sorediate or not, lobes loosely attached or semi-erect, elongate-linear to elongate, averaging to 0.5–2 mm wide, thin. Upper surface whitish, sometimes maculate, weakly longitudinally striate, lobe margins ciliate. Lower surface white, partly noncorticate (and then appressed-cottony), lacking rhizines or bearing sparse rhizines. Medulla white. Photobiont green.
Apothecia located over upper surface, often near lobe tips, disc brown; spores 2-celled, ellipsoid, brown, 8 per ascus.
Over trees.
Notes: Heterodermia is primarily a genus of temperate latitudes. Of the approximately 80 species worldwide, 21 are reported for North America and three for B.C.

Species description:
Lobes short or only slightly elongate; marginal cilia at most averaging to 0.5–2 mm long; soredia restricted to urn-shaped structures over upper surface or if located over lower surface, then positioned near lobe tips AND
Upper surface plane to at most weakly convex; soredia located partly over lower surface near lobe tips

Comments:
The anomalous distribution reported raises the possibility that the material included here may actually be heterogeneous.

Reactions:
Cortex K+ yellow; medulla K+ yellow, PD+ yellow.

Contents:
Atranorin, leucotylin, zeorin and various unknown substances.

Source:  Lichens of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration By:  Trevor Goward

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Anaptychia pseudospeciosa Kurok.
Anaptychia pseudospeciosa var. tremulans (Müll. Arg.) Kurok.
Anaptychia speciosa (Wulfen) A. Massal.
Heterodermia tremulans (Müll. Arg.) W.L. Culb.