# Montanelia

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***Montanelia*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [lichen](/source/Lichen)-forming [fungi](/source/Fungi) belonging to the large family [Parmeliaceae](/source/Parmeliaceae).[1] The genus comprises [foliose lichens](/source/Foliose_lichen) recognised by its short, narrow with flat to slightly convex edges; a smooth, unperforated outer skin (); shallow, irregular [pseudocyphellae](/source/Pseudocyphellae)—tiny pores—on the upper surface; slender, cylindrical to spindle-shaped [asexual](/source/Asexual_reproduction) spores ([conidia](/source/Conidia)); and a white [medulla](/source/Medulla_(lichenology)) that contains [orcinol](/source/Orcinol) [depsides](/source/Depside).

## Taxonomy

*Montanelia* was [circumscribed](/source/Circumscription_(taxonomy)) in 2012 by Pradeep K. Divakar, [Ana Crespo](/source/Ana_Crespo), Mats Wedin, and [Ted Esslinger](/source/Theodore_Lee_Esslinger) in 2012 to accommodate a group of five species previously assigned to the genus *[Melanelia](/source/Melanelia)*. The genus name combines "montane", referring to its [montane](/source/Montane_ecosystem) distribution, with -*elia* alluding to the genus *Melanelia*.[2]

[Molecular phylogenetics](/source/Molecular_phylogenetics) work that sampled all recognised species showed that *Montanelia predisjuncta* nests firmly inside the *M. disjuncta* [clade](/source/Clade). Because no genetic discontinuity was detected between them, the authors concluded that *M. predisjuncta* is best treated as a [synonym](/source/Synonym_(taxonomy)) of *M. disjuncta*.[3]

A rate-calibrated species tree based on six nuclear and mitochondrial loci dates the origin of the genus to about 23 million years ago (early [Miocene](/source/Miocene)). Most diversification occurred through the Miocene and [Pliocene](/source/Pliocene), with a more recent burst of [speciation](/source/Speciation) during the [Pleistocene](/source/Pleistocene) that is especially evident in the *M. tominii* complex.[3]

A follow-up revision in 2016 formally recognised three of those [cryptic](/source/Cryptic_species) lineages—*Montanelia occultipanniformis* sp. nov., *M. secwepemc* sp. nov. and *M. saximontana* (raised from [variety](/source/Variety_(botany)) to species rank)—and treated *M. predisjuncta* as a possible [synonym](/source/Synonym_(taxonomy)) of *M. disjuncta*, basing the decision on six-[locus](/source/Locus_(genetics)) coalescent species-delimitation analyses and diagnostic [ITS](/source/Internal_transcribed_spacer) barcodes.[4]

## Description

The foliose [thallus](/source/Thallus) forms mats that sit loosely to moderately tight against the [substrate](/source/Substrate_(biology)), occasionally bulging into a low cushion. are narrow and more or less linear, only 0.4–3 mm wide; their tips lie flat to gently rounded and never develop the long marginal hairs () seen in some other brown Parmeliaceae. The upper surface varies from tan to dark brown-black, with a texture that is smooth near the tips but often finely wrinkled toward the centre. It lacks spots or stains and is commonly broken by tiny, pale pores ([pseudocyphellae](/source/Pseudocyphella)), except in *M. sorediata* (where they are absent) and only occasionally in *M. panniformis*. These pores are flush with the surface and have no fixed outline. A non-pored epicortex overlies the cellular upper cortex. Beneath, the [medulla](/source/Medulla_(lichenology)) is white, while the lower surface is black—grading to dark brown at the margin—and bears short, unbranched [rhizines](/source/Rhizine) of the same colour that anchor the thallus.[2]

The genus reproduces sexually through laminal apothecia that are usually stalkless but may be very shortly pedicellate. Their start concave, become flat or slightly convex with age, and remain solid (imperforate); a ring of pseudocyphellae often rims the margin. The [hymenium](/source/Hymenium) is 40–70 [μm](/source/%CE%9Cm) tall and contains eight spores per *Lecanora*-type [ascus](/source/Ascus). These [ascospores](/source/Ascospore) are simple, colourless, mostly [ellipsoid](/source/Ellipsoid) (occasionally ovoid), and measure 8–12 × 4–7 μm, with walls up to 1 μm thick. Asexual propagation occurs in immersed, surface-level pycnidia that release cylindrical to spindle-shaped [conidia](/source/Conidia) 4–7.5 × 1 μm. Chemically the medulla produces orcinol [depsides](/source/Depside)—especially [perlatolic](/source/Perlatolic_acid), [stenosporic](/source/Stenosporic_acid), or [gyrophoric acid](/source/Gyrophoric_acid)—which help to distinguish species within the genus.[2]

## Habitat and distribution

*Montanelia* lichens are almost strictly [saxicolous](/source/Saxicolous_lichen); in a few rare instances, they have been recorded [growing on old wood](/source/Lignicolous_lichen). The genus as it is now circumscribed includes five species, which grow on rocks in montane regions of the northern hemisphere and north into the Arctic. Only a single species (*M. panniformis*) is reported from two localities in the southern hemisphere, the mountains of Venezuela and central Chile.[2]

Field surveys spanning forty expeditions show that Greenland marks the present high-latitude limit of the genus. Only four of the broadly distributed taxa—*M. disjuncta*, *M. panniformis*, *M. sorediata* and *M. tominii*—reach the island, and none pushes into the north-coast polar desert.[5] Of these, *M. disjuncta* is the most frequent, extending northward to about 79° N on sun-exposed, siliceous [outcrops](/source/Outcrop) and [guano](/source/Guano)-enriched [basalt](/source/Basalt) below roughly 1,000 m elevation. *M. panniformis* is locally abundant on moist, often overhanging siliceous faces in South- and Central-West Greenland but has not been recorded from the east coast. *M. sorediata* remains scarce, occurring mainly on coastal rocks in South-West Greenland with only scattered sites farther north and east. By contrast, *M. tominii* favours nutrient-rich cliffs and boulders influenced by bird [guano](/source/Guano) or wind-blown [loess](/source/Loess), being common in continental inland valleys of South- and Central-West Greenland and sporadic along the east coast.[5]

Three *Montanelia* species show narrow, [allopatric](/source/Allopatry) ranges that contrast with the broadly distributed core taxa. *M. occultipanniformis* is known only from a rock outcrop in [Denali National Park](/source/Denali_National_Park) (Interior [Alaska](/source/Alaska)) and a lignum-rich [talus](/source/Scree) slope in the [Russian Far East](/source/Russian_Far_East); *M. saximontana* is confined to sorediate populations on [siliceous rock](/source/Siliceous_rock) across the [Rocky Mountains](/source/Rocky_Mountains) and adjoining uplands of western North America; whereas the esorediate *M. secwepemc* occupies scattered saxicolous sites in [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), the [Yukon](/source/Yukon) and interior Alaska.[4]

Multilocus phylogeographic analyses reveal contrasting geographic patterns within the genus. *M. disjuncta*, *M. panniformis* (*[sensu stricto](/source/Sensu_stricto)*) and *M. sorediata* are genuinely intercontinental, showing little or no genetic structuring across Asia, Europe and North America. By contrast, the *M. tominii* assemblage comprises at least four evolutionary [lineages](/source/Lineage_(evolution))—two confined to Asia and two to western North America—whose divergence is consistent with repeated [dispersal](/source/Biological_dispersal) across [Beringia](/source/Beringia) during [Pleistocene](/source/Pleistocene) glaciations.[3]

[Maximum-entropy](/source/Principle_of_maximum_entropy) niche models calibrated for Central Europe predict that habitat suitability for *M. disjuncta* is highest in the Western and Eastern [Carpathians](/source/Carpathians), the central [Sudetes](/source/Sudetes), and the eastern [Alps](/source/Alps), whereas the [North German Plain](/source/North_German_Plain) provide the poorest conditions. The model for *M. sorediata* indicates a broader potential range stretching beyond the Carpathians and Alps to include the [Bohemian–Moravian](/source/Bohemian-Moravian_Highlands), [Podolian](/source/Podolian_Upland), and [Małopolska uplands](/source/Lesser_Poland_Upland); in both species seasonal precipitation emerged as the most influential climatic variable.[6]

## Species

As of June 2025, [Species Fungorum](/source/Species_Fungorum) (in the [Catalogue of Life](/source/Catalogue_of_Life)) accept eight species of *Montanelia*:[1]

- *[Montanelia disjuncta](/source/Montanelia_disjuncta)* (Erichsen) Divakar, A.Crespo, Wedin & Essl. (2012)
- *[Montanelia occultipanniformis](/source/Montanelia_occultipanniformis)* S.D.Leav., Essl., Divakar, A.Crespo & Lumbsch (2016)[4]
- *[Montanelia panniformis](/source/Montanelia_panniformis)* (Nyl.) Divakar, A.Crespo, Wedin & Essl. (2012)
- *[Montanelia predisjuncta](/source/Montanelia_predisjuncta)* (Essl.) Divakar, A.Crespo, Wedin & Essl. (2012)
- *[Montanelia saximontana](/source/Montanelia_saximontana)* (R.A.Anderson & W.A.Weber) S.D.Leav., Essl., Divakar, A.Crespo & Lumbsch (2016)
- *[Montanelia secwepemc](/source/Montanelia_secwepemc)* S.D.Leav., Essl., Divakar, A.Crespo & Lumbsch (2016)[3]
- *[Montanelia sorediata](/source/Montanelia_sorediata)* (Ach.) Divakar, A.Crespo, Wedin & Essl. (2012)
- *[Montanelia tominii](/source/Montanelia_tominii)* (Oxner) Divakar, A.Crespo, Wedin & Essl. (2012)

## References

1. Divakar, Pradeep K.; Del-Prado, Ruth; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Wedin, Mats; Esslinger, Theodore L.; Leavitt, Steven D.; Crespo, Ana (2012). "Diversification of the newly recognized lichen-forming fungal lineage *Montanelia* (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota) and its relation to key geological and climatic events". *American Journal of Botany*. **99** (12): 2014–2026. [Bibcode:2012AmJB...99.2014D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012AmJB...99.2014D). [doi:10.3732/ajb.1200258](https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1200258). [PMID 23204485](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23204485)

1. Leavitt, Steven D.; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Ohmura, Yoshihito; Wang, Li-song; Esslinger, Theodore L.; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2015). "Who's getting around? Assessing species diversity and phylogeography in the widely distributed lichen-forming fungal genus *Montanelia* (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)". *Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution*. **90**: 85–96. [Bibcode:2015MolPE..90...85L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MolPE..90...85L). [doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.029](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.029). [PMID 25987532](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25987532)

1. Leavitt, Steven D.; Esslinger, Theodore L.; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Crespo, Ana; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2016). "Hidden diversity before our eyes: Delimiting and describing cryptic lichen-forming fungal species in camouflage lichens (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)". *Fungal Biology*. **120** (11): 1374–1391. [Bibcode:2016FunB..120.1374L](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016FunB..120.1374L). [doi:10.1016/j.funbio.2016.06.001](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2016.06.001). [PMID 27742095](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27742095)

1. Esslinger, Theodore L.; Hansen, Eric Steen; Leavitt, Steven D. (2014). "The brown parmelioid lichen species in Greenland". *Folia Cryptogamica Estonica*. **51**: 25–48. [doi:10.12697/fce.2014.51.03](https://doi.org/10.12697/fce.2014.51.03)

1. Szczepańska, Katarzyna; Pruchniewicz, Daniel; Sołtysiak, Justyna; Kossowska, Maria (2015). "Lichen-forming fungi of the genus *Montanelia* in Poland and their potential distribution in Central Europe". *Herzogia*. **28** (2): 697–712. [Bibcode:2015Herz...28..697S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015Herz...28..697S). [doi:10.13158/heia.28.2.2015.697](https://doi.org/10.13158/heia.28.2.2015.697)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Montanelia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montanelia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montanelia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.