{{Short description|Species of lichen}} {{Use American English|date=March 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Species box | image = Punctelia missouriensis - Flickr - pellaea.jpg | image_caption = in Eldersburg, Maryland | taxon = Punctelia missouriensis | authority = G.Wilh. & Ladd (1992) }}
'''''Punctelia missouriensis''''', commonly known as the '''mealy speckled shield lichen''', is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in the southeastern United States, where it grows on tree bark and on rocks.
==Taxonomy== It was formally described as a new species in 1992 by Gerould Wilhelm and Douglas Ladd. The type specimen was collected by the authors in Crawford County, Missouri, in Onondaga Cave State Park. The specimen was found growing on a ''Juniperus virginiana'' in the Vilander Bluff Natural Area.<ref name="Wilhelm & Ladd 1992"/> Mónica Adler interpreted the soredia of this species as tiny isidia, and proposed to synonymise the taxon with the South American species ''Punctelia punctata'',<ref name="Adler 1997"/> but other authorities considered it to have sufficient morphological differences to warrant distinction as an independent species.<ref name="Aptroot 2003"/> It is colloquially known as the mealy speckled shield lichen.<ref name="Hinds & Hinds 2007"/>
==Habitat and distribution== ''Punctelia missouriensis'' is found in the southeastern United States.<ref name="Aptroot 2003"/> It occurs in the tallgrass prairie biome in the U.S. Interior Highlands. Here it occurs regularly on the trunks of oak trees in open prairie and open savanna. It also occurs on siliceous rock faces with partial shade.<ref name="Wilhelm & Ladd 1992"/> Although it was reported to occur in South America,<ref name="Adler 1997"/> the specimens that were analyzed were actually of ''Punctelia punctata''.<ref name="Aptroot 2003"/>
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Adler 1997">{{cite journal |last1=Adler |first1=Mónica T. |year=1997 |title=Polymorphism of vegetative propagules in ''Punctelia punctilla'' (Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales), and the delimitation of the species |journal=Mycotaxon |volume=63 |pages=57–70 |url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59575/0063/0057.htm}}</ref>
<ref name="Aptroot 2003">{{cite journal |last1=Aptroot |first1=André |title=A new perspective on the sorediate ''Punctelia'' (Parmeliaceae) species of North America |journal=The Bryologist |volume=106 |issue=2 |year=2003 |pages=317–319 |doi=10.1639/0007-2745(2003)106[0317:ANPOTS]2.0.CO;2}}</ref>
<ref name="Hinds & Hinds 2007">{{cite book |last1=Hinds |first1=James W. |last2=Hinds |first2=Patricia L. |year=2007 |title=The Macrolichens of New England |series=Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden |volume=96 |pages=429–430 |isbn=978-0-89327-477-1}}</ref>
<ref name="Wilhelm & Ladd 1992">{{cite journal |last1=Wilhelm |first1=Gerould |last2=Ladd |first2=Douglas |year=1992 |title=A new species of the lichen genus ''Punctelia'' from the Midwestern United States |journal=Mycotaxon |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=495–504 |url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59575/0044/002/0495.htm}}</ref>
}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q10646752}}
missouriensis Category:Lichen species Category:Lichens described in 1992 Category:Lichens of the Southeastern United States Category:Fungi without expected TNC conservation status