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Image Title: Dictyonema glabratum
Image Credit: Robert Lücking
AJB Editor: Judy Jernstedt, University of California - Davis
Intended End User: Teacher, Student
License Details: BSA - Terms for Image Use
Copyright held by: Lücking, BSA
Date Created: 8/1/2007
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About the Image

The tropical montane basidiolichen Dictyonema glabratum in Volcan Tenorio National Park in Costa Rica (c. 3X actual size). The lichen symbiosis is one of the predominant life forms in Fungi, but Basidiomycota have very few lichenized species (e.g., in the genera Dictyonema, Lichenomphalia, and Multiclavula), and most of them are rare and found in specific habitats. Dictyonema glabratum is the most abundant and widespread species and often found in large quantities on open road banks, but it is also epiphytic on shrubs and trees. Discoveries of novel basidiolichens are rare, but a new species of Multiclavula with a unique, previously unknown basidiocarp morphology was discovered during the NSF-funded TICOLICHEN biodiversity inventory in Costa Rica.

National Science Foundation  Development Supported by the National Science Foundation