Vermilacinia cerebra
Vermilacinia cerebra is a fruticose lichen that grows on trees and shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America from the Channel Islands and mainland California near Los Angeles to southern Baja California, also occurring in South America in the Antofagasta Province of northern Chile. The epithet is in reference to the apical swollen lobes that resemble the cerebrum of the brain. Distinguishing Features. "Vermilacinia cerebra" is classified in the subgenus "Cylindricaria" in which it is distinguished from related species by the thallus divided into tubular inflated or somewhat compressed fan-shaped branches. The  apical swollen lobes resemble soralia (soredia). The species appears transitional between "V. cephalota", which produces soredia, and "V. leoparidina" which develops subterminal apothecia, and lacks depsidone lichen substances. "Vermilacinia cerebra" is also distinct for the longitudinally 3–5 ribbed branches. These features are evident in a 2012 image of the thallus from Palos Verdes Bluffs, possibly near the northernmost range of the species on the California mainland. A specimen cited from that location was collected by Hermann Edward Hasse in 1908; the species still growing there 104 years later. The lichen substances in "Vermilacinia cerebra" show a chemo syndrone variation. These  include either (1) salazinic acid, (2) norstictic acid, or (3) unknowns without salazinic acid or norstictic acid. Zeorin and (-)-16 α-hydroxykaurane are the major lichen substances that are always present along with bourgeanic acid and an unknown compound referred to as T3 by its relative position on a thin-layer chromatography plate. Taxonomic History. "Vermilacinia cerebra" was described in 1996. Some authors include the species under a very broad species and genus concept; essentially, all species of "Vermilacinia" that grow on trees and shrubs, including two sorediate species, were treated as belonging to "Niebla ceruchis", an epithet that is  based on a type specimen for a species interpreted to grow on earth in South America, known as "Vermilacinia ceruchis". The genus "Vermilacinia" is distinguished from "Niebla" by the absence of chondroid strands, and by major lichen substance predominantly of terpenes.