|
|
| This foliose lichen grows in rosettes of 20 cm or more in diameter on soils and humus or among mosses and grasses. It is especially common on shady roadside banks throughout the state. The large, dull gray to brownish lobes have undulating margins and a downy gray tomentum on the rounded lobe tips. When wet, the thallus color darkens, since the photobiont is the cyanobacterium Nostoc. The lower surface is tan, lacks a cortex and is covered with felty tomentum. Brown, narrow veins anastomose within the felty tomentum and become light tan at the margins. Long tufted rhizines form where strands of tomentum join. Dark brown apothecia are common on erect lobes resembling dog's teeth. Peltigera canina was once believed useful in the treatment of rabies and as protection against being bitten by a dog. |