Letharia columbiana (common name brown-eye wolf lichen, synonyms Letharia californica, Borrera columbiana) is a common lichen in subalpine forests, particularly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and parts of Canada. It is in the family Parmeliaceae, and the genus Letharia. Its characteristics include a bright citron color, “brown-eyes”, and rounded, irregular branches. Though previously believed to lump together several lineages such as Letharia gracilis and others, there now exists more specific characteristics to identify the species. This lichen grows on the bark of conifers a couple inches tall. L. Columbiana’s cousin, Letharia vulpina (common name wolf lichen), has similar geographical distribution and morphological features, with the major difference being the “brown-eyes” of L. columbiana.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Letharia columbiana across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Letharia columbiana has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens7
Marker genes2
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections11
Countries3
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★ITS10★ITS1
fungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceGoaT · NCBI
The complete instruction manualLetharia columbiana carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size78 280 000 bp
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
THIS GENOME Letharia columbiana0.08 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Assembly levelContig
Completeness96% BUSCO
07Deep time~64.7 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin64.7 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The dashed rules marked ✦ are the five great mass extinctions. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock originmass extinction
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type3 423 records
Wild obs. + sensor2 605
Museum / vouchered818
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO7 584 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy89% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 583≤1 km 229≤10 km 129>10 km 90
2 031 georeferenced · 574 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor2 605
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy38% within 1 km
≤100 m 3≤1 km 79≤10 km 110>10 km 26
218 georeferenced · 600 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence818
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions39 of 61 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
ASUlocation not on record
97
Madison, US
70
Bozeman, US
52
Uppsala, SE
47
Vancouver, CA
45
Durham, US
41
St. Paul, US
35
LDlocation not on record
29
WTUlocation not on record
28
Bronx, US
21
US
20
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
18
Boise, US
18
ILLSlocation not on record
17
Santa Barbara, US
16
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
15
PHlocation not on record
14
Minia, EG
14
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
14
Wuzhou, CN
13
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung: Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseumlocation not on record
12
Chicago, US
8
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
7
Olocation not on record
7
Chapel Hill, US
7
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
6
Bergen, NO
5
Knoxville, US
5
Stockholm, SE
5
Philadelphia, US
5
Logan, US
4
Pocatello, US
4
Fort Hayslocation not on record
4
Berlin, DE
4
Weber State Universitylocation not on record
4
Arcata, US
3
Oskarshamn, SE
3
MeiseBGlocation not on record
3
Mexico City, MX
3
FLASlocation not on record
3
Catholic University of Pekinglocation not on record
3
Henderson, US
2
Davis, US
2
EL PASO, US
2
Auckland, NZ
2
Portland, US
2
Albuquerque, US
2
San Diego, US
2
Ann Arbor, US
2
Acadia Universitylocation not on record
1
AADClocation not on record
1
Göteborg, SE
1
South Kensington, GB
1
Helsinki, FI
1
Paris, FR
1
Pullman, US
1
Durham, US
1
Bureau of Land Management, Medford District Officelocation not on record
1
University of Gdansklocation not on record
1
US
1
TROMlocation not on record
1
61 institutions · 757 of 818 vouchered records shown · 59 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA11 detections
Where the DNA of Letharia columbiana was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found11
Studies independent surveys2
Countries3
Signal confidence: moderateweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 11 detections have coordinates
Open the map3 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median17.2 °C 4.00–17.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter12.3 °C
Max temp (day)21.6 °C 8.70–21.6
Min temp (night)13.5 °C 0.9–13.5
Precipitation126 mm/mo 66.8–126
Air humidity61.4 % 59.4–63.3
Moisture balance39.0 mm/mo -20.1–39.0
Vapour deficit754 Pa 501–754
Wind speed4.00 m/s 4.00–5.70
Cloud cover35.6 % 35.6–47.1
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 6 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation1 languages↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility3 423 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI11 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics7 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗