A pan-American species previously reported from the Galapagos by Dodge (1936). This report was refuted by Weber (1986) who instead used the name R. linearis (Sw.) Ach., based on a New Zealand type, for this taxon. It grows only inland from the lower transition zone into the humid highlands, on bark or wood, rarely on rock. The species can very easily be recognized by its strongly canaliculate upright lobes that are rolled up and thus appear terete. They are sparsely branched and grow from a common holdfast like a “bouquet of flowers”.
Selected specimens examined. Ecuador: Galápagos: Isabela Island, Volcán Alcedo, outer E-exposed slope just below the crater rim, 0˚ 25’ 17” S, 91˚ 5’ 8” W, alt. 1077 m, fern-sedge zone; basalt outcrops, SE-exposed slope with scattered shrubs of Tournefortia rufo-sericea, Opuntia insularis, Lantana peduncularis and occasional trees of Zanthoxylum fagara among basalt rubble, on rock (basalt lava), 08 iii 2006, A. Aptroot 65146 (CDS no. 31729); San Cristóbal Island, Cerro Partido along trail from entrance to Cerro Pelado to Ripioso, 0˚ 51’ 23” S, 89˚ 27’ 37” W, alt. 376 m, transition zone; rocky SW-exposed slope of hill with Jasminocereus thouarsii, Clerodendrum molle var. glabrescens, Psidium galapageium, Bromeliaceae and ferns growing in rock crevices, on wood, twigs of dead tree; sunny, wind- and rain-exposed, 28 iv 2007, F. Bungartz 6617 (CDS no. 34837); Santa Cruz Island, near Los Gemelos craters, 0˚ 36’ 31” S, 90˚ 22’ 4” W, alt. 350 m, on wood, 31 v 2005, A. Aptroot 63397 B (CDS no. 30149); Santa Cruz Island, along the road from Los Gemelos towards the N-coast of the island, ca. 1 km N of Los Gemelos, 0˚ 37’ 7” S, 90˚ 22’ 35” W, alt. 584 m, transition zone with open dry forest, Scalesia pedunculata, on bark, twigs, 12 ii 2006, A. Aptroot 63773 (CDS no. 30333); Santiago Island, summit of Cerro Gavilan, outer S-exposed crater rim, 0˚ 12’ 23” S, 90˚ 46’ 57” W, alt. 840 m, fern-sedge zone; S-exposed, steep basalt cliffs of crater rim with ferns growing in crevices, on bark of Psidium, 23 iii 2006, A. Aptroot 65496 (CDS no. 32085); Santiago Island, along the trail from Bucanero to Jaboncillos, ca. 200 m below the summit, Cerro Gavilan, 0˚ 12’ 9” S, 90˚ 47’ 3” W, alt. 796 m, upper part transition zone; open Psidium galapageium forest with Zanthoxylum fagara, dense understory of Clerodendrum molle, Tournefortia pubescens and others, on bark, twigs of Clerodendrum molle; sunny, wind- and rain-exposed, 23 iii 2006, F. Bungartz 4729 (CDS no. 28840).
from: Aptroot, A. & Bungartz, F. (2007) The lichen genus Ramalina on the Galapagos. The Lichenologist39(6): 519-542.