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Wila (lichen)

Wila
WilaBig.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Ascomycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Parmeliaceae
Genus: Bryoria
Species: B. fremontii
Binomial name
Bryoria fremontii
(Tuck.) Brodo & D. Hawksw.

Wila (Bryoria fremontii) is a dark brown, hair-like lichen that grows hanging from trees in western North America, and northern Europe and Asia. Wila grows abundantly in some areas, and is an important traditional food for many First Nations in North America.

Wila is currently classified as Bryoria fremontii, although it is often still identified by the outdated classification of Alectoria jubata. Several different English names have been recently invented for wila, including black moss, black tree lichen, and edible horsehair lichen, but none of these names are in common usage. There are traditional names for this lichen in at least 20 different indigenous languages in North America. Wila (wee-la) is the Secwepemctsin name for the lichen, and has been adopted in some publications as an appropriate common name for general use. The Nez Perce name is hóopop and the Sahaptin name is k'ʷɨnč.

Wila (Bryoria fremontii), like almost all of the 23 other species of Bryoria found in North America, is a dark brown hair lichen that grow on trees (mostly conifers). Differentiating the different species of Bryoria can be difficult. The simplest characteristic that distinguishes wila from the other species of Bryoria is that its main branches grow to be quite thick (greater than 0.4 mm wide), and usually become somewhat flattened, twisted, and wrinkled in older specimens. Other species of Bryoria usually have narrower main branches. Wila can also grow to be a lot longer than other species of Bryoria, and is the only species in this genus in North America that regularly grows longer than 20 cm (occasionally reaching 90 cm in length). Wila is often slightly darker in colour than most other species of Bryoria, although there is much variation in this characteristic. Soredia and apothecia are uncommon, but when they are present they are very distinctive, as they are both bright yellow.

Wila usually does not contain any secondary lichen substances. However, some specimens are quite high in vulpinic acid. These specimens are often classified as a separate species, Bryoria tortuosa; in 1992, it was posited that they are different morphotypes of the same species, but in 2016, it was discovered that the difference is the result of the presence or absence of a basidiomycete as an additional symbiont. Vulpinic acid is both toxic and bright yellow, and, besides making the lichen poisonous, it can also give the lichen a yellowish tint. As a result, although wila is usually reddish-brown to dark brown, some specimens can be yellowish-brown or even bright yellow.


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Wikipedia

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