Niebla and Vermilacinia (Ramalinaceae) from California and Baja California.  
Spjut, R.W., 1996. ISSN 0833-1475, 208 pp.  
Sida, Botanical Miscellany: 14. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Inc.

Evolutionary history of coastal species of fog lichen genera
Niebla, Ramalina and Vermilacinia
Emmanuel Sérusiaux & Richard  Spjut
Baja California, Jan-Feb 2016

Evolution and diversification of Niebla
Steve Leavitt et al., Baja California, Dec 2016

N of Guerrero Negro, Punta Santo Domingo, N 28°14.469, W 114°05.763, 25 m, Spjut & Sérusiaux 17289. Feb 2016

NW of Bahia de Asuncion, near the Mesa El Elephante, N 27°20.732, W 114°25.384, 120-125 m, Spjut & Sérusiaux 17145. Jan 2016

South of El Rosario along road to Punta Baja, on sandy, wind-swept ridgeline, 80 m.  Leavitt et al. 16-1006, Dec 2016

Near Bahía Tortugas, Spjut 9699, isotype, May 1986

Vizcaíno Peninsula, rocky
mesa at San Andrés, Spjut &
Marin 10566, Apr 1989

Between Campo Nuevo
and San Carlos, Spjut &
Marin 12760, Apr 1993

Mesa Camacho, north of Punta Canoas, Spjut & Marin 13112, Apr 1994

Mesa Camacho,
Spjut 11251, Apr 1990
also used for illustration in
Spjut (1996)

Mesa Camacho,
Spjut & Marin 13055,
Apr 1994

Mesa Camacho, Spjut & Marin 13074, Apr 1994

Isla Cedros,
Spjut & Marin 10539,
Apr 1989

Geographical occurrences

     Niebla rugosa is a lichen that is endemic to the Pacific Coast Region of Baja California, infrequently occurring from the Vizcaíno Peninsula north to near Punta San Carolos, and also on Isla Cedros.  It is found on boulders on Mesa Camacho, rock walls in a narrow wind-sheltered canyon on the eastern side of Isla Cedros, on pebbles near San Carlos, and on gypsum near Bahía Tortugas; the locations are generally further away from the ocean than other related species.  Most specimens were collected near Punta San Carlos, however.

     Niebla rugosa resembles N. podetiaforma in the small tufts of subtubular branches, but differs in the branches sharply angled along margins, not rounded as in N. podetiaforma. Transverse cortical ridges that connect between the margins are remarkably parallel, like in a step ladder. As the epithet implies, Niebla rugosa has a wrinkled thallus due in part to the prominent transverse cortical ridges.  In N. podetiaforma, the cortical ridges divide between margins. 

     Another species with small tufts of mostly simple basal branches, Niebla siphonoloba, differs in the cortical ridges interconnecting between margins, which seems related to the prismatic outline of the branches, although some areas of a branch may have undivided transverse connecting ridges. Generally, N. rugosa has wide rectangular areas between cortical ridges, in contrast to circular to square areoles in N. siphonoloba.   They also differ in chemistry, divaricatic acid (with triterpenes) in N. rugosa; sekikaic acid (with triterpenes) in N. siphonoloba. 

     Another distinctive feature of N. rugosa is the cupular apothecia on saucer-like marginal lobes.  The apothecia are perpendicular to the saucer lobe in contrast to slightly upward tilted and raised otherwise similar apothecia in N. contorta.