Wolf lichen, Letharia vulpina, is a fruticose lichenized fungus with a bright yellow-green, shrubby, highly branched growth form that lives on the bark of conifers across western Europe, the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rocky Mountains. Its brilliant color comes from vulpinic acid, a toxic compound that Native American peoples used to make a yellow dye for textiles and art, and that Europeans once used as a poison against wolves and foxes.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Scientific Name Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Wolf Lichen
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Norway, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Portugal, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Sweden, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Letharia vulpina
Wikipedia- Wikidata Q2164660 (P225 taxon name)
lead paragraph (habitat realm), EntityId 343196
It is bright yellow-green, shrubby and highly branched, and grows on the bark of living and dead conifers in parts of western and continental Europe and the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains of Nor
View the Source IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
GBIF Species API
Wikidata: Wolf Lichen
Child Taxon Of: Ascomycota, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chainView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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