The Verrucariaceae are a family of mostly lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichen-forming species, which comprise the vast majority of the family, have a wide variety of thallus forms, and include crustose (crust-like), foliose (bushy), and squamulose (scaly) representatives. Several characteristics of the spore-bearing structures, the ascomata, define the family, including their perithecioid form–more or less spherical or flask-shaped, with a single opening and otherwise completely enclosed by a wall. Squamulose members of the Verrucariaceae with simple ascospores, and without algae in the spore-bearing region are known as catapyrenioid lichens; there are more than 80 of these species. The family has several dozen lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) examples, and a few genera that contain solely lichenicolous members. An unusually diverse variety of photobiont partners have been recorded, mostly green algae, but also brown algae and yellow-green algae.
Agonimia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Verrucariaceae.
Peter Wilfred James (1930–2014) was an English botanist and lichenologist. He was a pioneer in the study of lichens as environmental indicators, especially of atmospheric pollution.
Brian John Coppins is a botanist and lichenologist, considered a world authority on crustose lichens and a leading expert on the genus Micarea.
Ocellularia brunneospora is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins. The type specimen was collected in the Namtok Phlio National Park ; here, in a moist evergreen forest at an elevation of 100 m (330 ft), the lichen was found growing on the bark of Anisoptera costata. Ocellularia brunneospora is only known to occur at the type locality.
Ocellularia flavescens is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in northern Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins. The type specimen was collected from Doi Suthep National Park ; here it was found in an oak/chestnut forest at an elevation of 1,600 m (5,200 ft). It is only known from the type collection at the type locality. The lichen has shiny, smooth, whitish to mineral-grey thallus. It contains lichexanthone, a secondary compound that is uncommon in genus Ocellularia. The presence of this chemical causes the lichen thallus to fluoresce a golden-yellow colour when lit with a long-wavelength (365 nm) UV light. This feature is referenced in its specific epithet flavescens.
Ocellularia kansriae is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Northern and Eastern Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins. The type specimen was collected from Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park at an altitude of 1,475 m (4,839 ft); here, in an evergreen forest, it was found growing on the bark of Syzygium. The lichen has a shiny, olivaceous-grey thallus with a texture ranging from smooth to finely verruculose (warted). It contains protocetraric acid, a secondary compound. The specific epithet kansriae honours Thai lichenologist Kansri Boonpragob, a colleague who collected specimens from Khao Yai National Park in Eastern Thailand.
Ocellularia neoleucina is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in southeastern Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins. The type specimen was collected from Namtok Phlio National Park ; here, in a moist, lowland evergreen forest, it was found growing on Anisoptera costata. The lichen has a shiny, smooth, greenish thallus with a dense cortex and a white medulla with many crystals. Its ascospores are ellipsoid, thin walled, colourless, and typically measure 14.0–17.0 by 5.0–6.7 μm. It contains stictic acid, a secondary compound.
Ocellularia rhicnoporoides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in south-eastern Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins. The type specimen was collected by the first author in Namtok Phlio National Park. The lichen has a somewhat shiny, smooth, olivaceous-buff thallus with a dense cortex and a white medulla. It produces colourless, thin-walled ascospores that measure 16.5–22.0 by 7.0–8.5 μm. The specific epithet rhicnoporoides alludes to its resemblance to Ocellularia rhicnopora.
Ocellularia subleucina is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in south-eastern Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins. The type specimen was collected in Khao Khitchakut National Park ; here it was found growing on trees in a lowland forest at an elevation of 400 m (1,300 ft). The lichen has a smooth to finely wrinkled, grey olivaceous thallus with a dense cortex and a white medulla. It does not contain any lichen substances. The specific epithet subleucina refers to its similarity with Ocellularia leucina, a lookalike species with smaller ascospores that contains psoromic acid.
Bacidina pycnidiata is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae. It is widely distributed in Europe and North Asia. It is characterised by its whitish or cream-coloured pycnidia with long and ostiolar necks.
Phylloblastia is a genus of foliicolous (leaf-dwelling) lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 1921 by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio, with Phylloblastia dolichospora assigned as the type species.
James D. Lawrey is a biologist, specialising in lichens. He is known for leading long-term monitoring projects, taxonomy and studies of the evolution of the fungi in lichens.
Reichlingia zwackhii is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Arthoniaceae. It was first formally described by German lichenologist Johann Heinrich Sandstede in 1903, as a member of genus Arthonia. Andreas Frisch and Göran Thor transferred it to the genus Reichlingia in 2013. The lichen occurs in temperate regions of Europe. Peter Wilfred James proposed the variety Arthonia zwackhii var. macrospora in 1978, on the basis of specimens collected from Britain that had consistently larger ascospores and different lichen products. This taxon is now known as a distinct species, Synarthonia astroidestera.
Psoroglaena stigonemoides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It occurs in Great Britain and Ireland. It was first described scientifically by lichenologist Alan Orange in 1989, as Macentina stigonemoides. He collected the type specimen from Cardiganshire, Cambria, where it was found growing on the bark of Ulmus glabra in a humid forest. Aino Henssen transferred it to the genus Psoroglaena in 1995.
Agonimia flabelliformis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. Found in Europe, it was scientifically described as new to science in 2011 by Josef Halda, Paweł Czarnota, and Beata Guzow-Krzemińska. The type specimen was collected in the Gratzen Mountains at an altitude of 805 m (2,641 ft), where it was found growing on the bark of a beech tree. The thallus of the lichen consists of finger-like (dactyliform) to coral-like (coralloid) aggregations of goniocys]s that form a roundish structure. The species epithet flabelliformis refers to the fan-shaped (flabellate) form of the thallus branches. In addition to Europe, the lichen has also been recorded in eastern North America and the Russian Far East.
Agonimia tenuiloba is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. Found in Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2013 by lichenologists André Aptroot and Marcela Cáceres. The type specimen was collected by the authors in the Estação Ecológica de Cuniã (Rondônia), where it was found growing on smooth tree bark in a rainforest. The lichen thallus comprises tiny, green, fan-shaped (flabellate) lobes and spherical goniocysts. Its ascomata are in the form of perithecia that are 0.3–0.4 mm wide and grey in colour due to a thin thalline cover. Its ascospores typically measure 30–50 by 20–35 μm. The European species Agonimia flabelliformis is similar in morphology, but it has shorter and narrower ascospores.
Phylloblastia inexpectata is a species of foliicolous (leaf-dwelling) lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. Found in Europe, it was formally described by lichenologists Emmanuël Sérusiaux, Brian John Coppins, and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected by the second author in Dunskey Glen Woods, where it was found growing on the leaves of a Prunus laurocerasus tree growing near a stream. It has also been collected in England, southern Italy, Madeira, and Spain.
Verrucaria muralis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling, crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. It is a common species with an almost cosmopolitan distribution, occurring in an altitudinal range extending from the lowlands to the subalpine zone. It grows on calcareous rocks and walls. It was first formally described as a new species in 1803 by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius.
Verrucaria simplex is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae. Found in Europe and Asia, it was described as new to science in 1988 by lichenologist Patrick McCarthy. The type specimen was collected by Brian Coppins from Morpeth, Northumberland; there, it was found growing on a fragment of mortar-cement lying on the floor of a woodland. The lichen was later reported from the Czech Republic, and Korea.
