Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2002. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 1.
Life habit: lichenized Thallus: fruticose, epilithic, erect, sparsely dichotomously branched, both main and terminal branches terete, branches up to 3 mm thick lobe surface: creamy white, grayish-white, smooth with old parts sometimes rugose, sparsely pruinose; soredia and isidia absent cortex: 50-65 µm thick, with hyphae interwovenly arranged medulla: white, cretaceous, except in top of young branches where it is brown and byssoid photobiont: primary one a Trentepohlia, secondary photobiont absent attachment: holdfast included in a small crustose or suffruticose, effuse, primary thallus with brown or in parts reddish hypomedulla Apothecia: numerous, solitary, terminal on branches, circular in outline but when old sinuate, sessile to stipitate, with constricted base, up to 2 cm diam.; disc: exposed, concave, gray with a smooth pruinose layer; thalline exciple: prominent with algae and cortex; proper exciple: a thin parathecium, sometimes inconspicuous; epithecium: brown, 20-30 µm thick; hymenium: 70-100 µm thick with sparsely branched, paraphysoids: hyaline, intertwined, richly branched; hypothecium: distinct, dark-brown (carbonaceous), extending down into medulla asci: clavate, 70 x 14 µm, 8-spored ascospores: slightly fusiform, straight or slightly curved, verrucose, brown, 5-7 septate, 19-23 x 3-5 µm Conidiomata: pycnidial, aggregated in groups in well defined, white-pruinose, ascomata-like synpycnidia, 2 mm in diam.; solitary pycnidia: sometimes present; immersed, black, 0.1 mm diam. conidia: filiform, curved in a semi-circle, 11-13 x < 1 µm Spot tests: cortex K-, C+ red turning yellow, KC+ red, P-; medulla K-, C-, KC-, P- Secondary metabolites: dibenzofurans, orcinol depsides [schizopeltic acid, erythrin (both major), and lecanoric acid, isoschizopeltic acid, pannaric acid, 3-O-methylpannaric acid, pannaric acid 2-methyl ester and pannaric acid 6-methyl ester (all trace)-according to Elix et al. (1995]. Substrate and ecology: grows near the ocean on vertical and overhang cliffs exposed to the north, above the littoral and away from direct sea spray World and Sonoran distribution: Schizopelte californica has been found as far north as San Luis Obispo Co., California, and as far south as central Baja California. Thus, it is essentially restricted to maritime parts of the Sonoran region. Notes: Schizopelte californica is very charactaristic with its terminal apothecia and brown spores. It was transferred to Combea by Follmann and Geyer (1986), primarily on the basis of the shared secondary products erythrin, lecanoric acid, and schizopeltic acid, although these substances are also present in other genera of the family (see Tehler [1990a] for further discussion).