BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Nephroma resupinatum
pimpled paw
| Scientific Name: | Nephroma resupinatum (L.) Ach. | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | pimpled paw | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Esslinger, T.L. and R.S. Egan. 1995. A sixth checklist of the lichen-forming, lichenicolous, and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. The Bryologist 98(4):467-549. As supplied by USDA, NRCS from The PLANTS database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA. Version: November 19, 1997. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Lichen | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | NEPHRES | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2017) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4 (Mar 2018) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
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| General Status Canada: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Thallus foliose, loosely appressed to ascending, to 10cm diameter; lobes mostly < 8mm broad; upper surface grayish or gray brown, pubescent; lower surface light brown, tomentose, with cream-colored papillae surrounded by tomentum (the papillae may be sparse and subtle or conspicuous and abundant); lobules often present on the margins or along cracks; medulla white; photobiont blue green; apothecia common on the underside of the lobe tips; spot tests negative (McCune and Geiser 2009). | ||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Diagnostic Characteristics: | The whitish pappillae surrounded by light brownish tomentum on the lower surface are diagnostic for this species. This species may be confused with others in its genus since small individuals may have few or no papillae, but McCune and Geiser (2009) mention that with practice it can be recognized by its mousy gray-brown pubescent upper surface. Brodo et al. (2001) mention that it resembles N.. helveticum, but can be distinguished by the fact that it doesn't have white warts on the lower surface, which N.. helveticum does have. | ||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Some lichen species contain a cyanobacterial component, in addition to a mycobiont and a photobiont, and Nephroma resupinatum is one of them. It is known that a Nostoc strain is the cyanobacterial component found in this lichen. Only fairly mature thalli are found to produce apothecia (Fedrowitz et al. 2011). | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Nephroma resupinatum is a lichen species found with not only mycobiont and photobiont components, but also with a cyanobacterial component. This cyanobacterial component is a strain of Nostoc bacteria which is responsible for nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation is important given that lichens often live in environments where nitrogen is poor, so having a nitrogen fixing component ensures nitrogen compounds in an easily usable form (Brodo et al. 2001). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: |
Nephroma resupinatum is found on trees and mossy rocks in humid forests (Brodo et al. 2001). In the Pacific Northwest, it occus in shady to somewhat open, moist riparian forests, occasionally in upland forests, in the western Cascade mountains (McCune and Geiser 2009). |
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
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| Dispersal: |
Wind
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | It is widespread in boreal, montane and oceanic forests. In western North America, it occurs from southern Alaska south through all of British Columbia, part of Alberta, through Washington, and into western Oregon and California. A small portion of the range dips into northern Idaho. In eastern North America it occurs from Quebec south through Maine and New Hampshire and Vermont, westward to Manitoba, skirting the northern tips of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York. It is also reported from Virginia, Tennessee, and Arizona (Brodo et al. 2001). In the Pacific Northwest this species is most common in areas near the ocean (McCune and Geiser 2009). It is also known in Europe (Fedrowitz et al. 2011). |
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| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
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| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Fedrowitz, K., U. Kaasalainen, and J. Rikkinen. 2011a. Genotype variability of Nostoc symbionts associated with three epiphyte Nephroma species in a boreal forest landscape. Bryologist 114(1): 220-230. |
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McCune, B. and L. Geiser. 2009. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest: Second Edition. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon. 448 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Species Summary: Nephroma resupinatum. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 13, 2026).