About: Dendriscocaulon

Dendriscocaulon is a taxonomic name that has been used for a genus of fruticose lichen (shrubby form lichen) with a cyanobacteria as the photobiont partner of the fungus. Dendriscocaulon is considered a taxonomic synonym of the genus Sticta, a foliose lichen (leafy form lichen), which generally has a green alga as the photobiont partner. Lichens that have been called Dendriscocaulon or Sticta involve the same fungal species. They show dramatically different morphology, may grow side-by-side, and mixed forms exist where different algae are growing within different portions of the same fungal thallus. The biochemistry of the two forms is very different, but the DNA sequences from the fungus and the photobiont can be distinguished using different primers for DNA sequencing.