Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm.

Sticta pulmonaria (L.) Biroli

Lungwort, tree lungwort, lung lichen, lung moss, oak lungs

About plant names...

According to the ancient doctrine of signatures, plants that resembled portions of human anatomy were thought to be meant to cure those parts. Lungwort’s resemblance to lungs resulted in its attempted use as a cure for various respiratory ailments. It is found in North America as well as Asia, Europe and Africa, in damp old growth forests such as the pacific northwest. (There is another completely unrelated plant that is also called lungwort.)

Most lichens are “collaborations” between a fungus and an algae; while lungwort is a symbiosis of three unrelated plants, cyanobacteria being the third. The fungal component brings a tough protective cover to the plant, while the algae and cyanobacteria provide the power plant, via photosynthesis.

Identification: Lungwort’s leathery, leaflike lobes, spotted with depressions, look a little like a cross between oak leaves and seaweed. They are green when wet, like the fog-fed images at right, fading to olive brown when dry. The reproductive structures, called soredia and isidia, are visible as bumps in photo 5. Lungwort prefers damp areas.

Online References:

Lobaria pulmonaria on Stephen Sharnoff Photography

Lobaria pulmonaria on Wikipedia

Lobaria pulmonaria at Alan Silverside's Lichen Pages on LastDragon.org

Lobaria pulmonaria at Stephen and Sylvia Sharnoff's lichen.com site

Lobaria pulmonaria on Discover Life

Lobaria pulmonaria on Wikispecies

References:

Walewski, Joe, Lichens of the North Woods, Kollath+Stensaas Publishing, 2007, p. 110

1 · 9/18/2016 · Barred Island Preserve, Deer Isle, ME

2 · 9/18/2016 · Barred Island Preserve, Deer Isle, ME

3 · Doesn’t look very interesting when it is dried out. · 4/19/2014 · Birch Point State Park, Owls Head, Knox County, ME
≈ 6 × 4" (14 × 10.0 cm)

4 · 4/3/2010 · Birch Point Beach State Park, Owl’s Head, ME
≈ 16 × 19" (41 × 48 cm) ID is uncertain

Lobaria pulmonaria description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

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5 · 4/3/2010 · Birch Point Beach State Park, Owl’s Head, ME
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

6 · 9/18/2016 · Barred Island Preserve, Deer Isle, ME

7 · 4/3/2010 · Birch Point Beach State Park, Owl’s Head, ME
≈ 9 × 6" (23 × 15 cm) ID is uncertain

8 · 10/3/2020 · Birch Point Beach State Park, Owl’s Head, ME ID is uncertain

9 · Doesn’t look very interesting when it is dried out. · 4/19/2014 · Birch Point State Park, Owls Head, Knox County, ME
≈ 6 × 4" (15 × 10 cm)

10 · Doesn’t look very interesting when it is dried out. · 4/19/2014 · Birch Point State Park, Owls Head, Knox County, ME
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm)

11 · 4/3/2010 · Birch Point Beach State Park, Owl’s Head, ME
≈ 7 × 4½" (17 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

12 · 9/18/2016 · Barred Island Preserve, Deer Isle, ME