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) Relationship to People Scientific Name Conservation Status Comparison
NatureServe Rank Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Wolf Lichen
In Biome
Source Wikipedia: Letharia vulpina
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
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
Article text: "It has also been used traditionally by many nati"
It has also been used traditionally by many native North American ethnic groups as a pigment source for dyes and paints.
In Biome: Temperate Coniferous Forest, Section: Distribution and habitat; begins "In the Rocky Mountains, Letharia species are fou"
In the Rocky Mountains, Letharia species are found in ponderosa forests at the prairie-forest boundary at relatively low elevations though medium and high elevation Douglas fir and lodgepole pine forests.
View the Source 2. NatureServe Explorer: Letharia vulpina
NatureServe ExplorerGlobal rank (roundedGRank)Quote, Global rank (roundedGRank)
"roundedGRank": "G5"
3. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (IUCN Red List category): IUCN Red List category of Letharia vulpina
GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (IUCN Red List category)iucnRedListCategory recordQuote, iucnRedListCategory record
"category": "NOT_EVALUATED"
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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