| Arctomia teretiuscula | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Baeomycetales |
| Family: | Arctomiaceae |
| Genus: | Arctomia |
| Species: | A. teretiuscula |
| Binomial name | |
| Arctomia teretiuscula P.M.Jørg. (2003) | |
Arctomia teretiuscula is a rare species of squamulose (scaly) lichen in the family Arctomiaceae. It is found at high elevations in the mountains between Tibet and Sichuan, China.
The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2005 by Norwegian lichenologist Per Magnus Jørgensen. The type specimen was collected by Walter Obermayer in Haigoulou glacier and forest park (Mount Gongga) at an altitude between 2,980 and 3,150 m (9,780 and 10,330 ft); here it was found growing on mossy rocks and soil. Because of its small size and nondescript colour, it is readily missed in the field. Although at the time of publication the lichen was only known to occur at the type location, Jørgensen speculates that it may have a wider distribution in similar habitats in the Himalayas. [1]
The lichen forms dark brown squamulose rosettes up to 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter. Its thallus is coral-like in form and has a multilayer cortex with a compact layer of cyanobionts. Its ascospores, which number 8 per ascus, are spindle-shaped (fusiform) and often curved, divided by 6 to 8 septa, and measure 40–60 by 4–5 μm. No secondary chemicals were detected with the use of thin-layer chromatography, and all of the standard chemical spot tests are negative. [1]
Arctomia teretiuscula is similar in appearance to Arctomia delicatula —the type species of genus Arctomia —found in western and northern Europe. The main visible difference between the two is the coralloid thallus of A. teretiuscula compared to the granular thallus of its European counterpart; other anatomical differences between the two become apparent when their internal microscopic structures are compared. [1]
A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. Lichens have properties different from those of their component organisms. They come in many colors, sizes, and forms and are sometimes plant-like, but are not plants. They may have tiny, leafless branches (fruticose); flat leaf-like structures (foliose); grow crust-like, adhering tightly to a surface (substrate) like a thick coat of paint (crustose); have a powder-like appearance (leprose); or other growth forms.
The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (Cladonia) belong to this family. The latter genus, which comprises about 500 species, forms a major part of the diet of large mammals in taiga and tundra ecosystems. Many Cladoniaceae lichens grow on soil, but other can use decaying wood, tree trunks, and, in a few instances, rocks as their substrate. They grow in places with high humidity, and cannot tolerate aridity.
The Baeomycetales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the subclass Ostropomycetidae, in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains 8 families, 33 genera and about 170 species. As a result of molecular phylogenetics research published in the late 2010s, several orders were folded into the Baeomycetales, resulting in a substantial increase in the number of taxa.
Arctomia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Arctomiaceae. The genus was originally circumscribed by Theodor Magnus Fries in 1861. Arctomia has a circumpolar distribution.
Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the substrate, making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichens consists of a cortex layer, an algal layer, and a medulla. The upper cortex layer is differentiated and is usually pigmented. The algal layer lies beneath the cortex. The medulla fastens the lichen to the substrate and is made up of fungal hyphae. The surface of crustose lichens is characterized by branching cracks that periodically close in response to climatic variations such as alternate wetting and drying regimes.
Lepidocollema wainioi is a species of lichen in the family Pannariaceae. It is known from southeast Asia.
Vahliella is a genus of nine species of lichenized fungi in the order Peltigerales. It is the only member of the Vahliellaceae, a family circumscribed in 2011 to contain this genus. Vahliella was formerly placed in the family Pannariaceae until molecular phylogenetics showed that it did not belong there. Vahliella species are found in the Northern Hemisphere – mainly in North America, but also in Europe and India.
Massalongia griseolobulata is a species of lichen in the family Massalongiaceae. Found in the Tristan da Cunha–Gough Island, it was described as a new species in 2010 by Norwegian lichenologist Dag Øvstedal. The type specimen was collected from the lower slopes of Tafelkop on Gough Island). Here it was found growing on the trunk of a treefern at an altitude of 270 m (890 ft). The species is known only from the type locality.
Catillaria flexuosa is a species of crustose lichen in the family Catillariaceae. It is found in the south of the Netherlands, where it grows on the bark of roadside ash trees.
Hypogymnia flavida is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in mountainous locations of east Asia, where it grows on the bark and wood of woody plants. It has a relatively large yellowish thallus.
Parmelia barrenoae is a species of foliose lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2005. Before this, it was lumped together as one of several lichens in the Parmelia sulcata group—a species complex of genetically distinct lookalikes. Parmelia barrenoae is widely distributed, occurring in Europe, western North America, Africa, and Asia.
Acantholichen pannarioides is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae, and the type species of genus Acantholichen. The lichen has a bluish-tinged, gelatinous thallus with a surface texture that has a powdery to hairy texture. It is found in montane regions of Central America and northern South America, where it grows on forest litter, bark, on bryophytes, and on other lichens.
Cladonia minisaxicola is a rare species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Found in Bahia, Brazil, it was formally described as a new species in 2018 by lichenologists André Aptroot and Marcela Eugenia da Silva Cáceres. The type specimen was collected by the authors from the Serrano along Rio de Lençóis at an altitude between 450 and 500 m ; here the lichen was found growing on siliceous sandstone rock in a transitional forest. Cladonia minisaxicola is only known to occur at the type locality, and is only known from the type specimen. The lichen has a crustose thallus that consists of lobe-like nodes that collectively form an irregular crust measuring up to 4 cm (1.6 in) in diameter. Although it differs from all other species of Cladonia in the form of its non-squamulose primary thallus, its position in that genus has been confirmed with molecular phylogenetic analysis. The specific epithet minisaxicola acknowledges its small size and saxicolous growth.
Massalongiaceae is a small family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Peltigerales. It has three genera and seven species.
Fuscoderma papuanum is a species of squamulose (scaley) lichen in the family Pannariaceae. Endemic to Papua New Guinea, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Per Magnus Jørgensen and Harrie Sipman. The type specimen was collected in Myola, in the Owen Stanley Range at an altitude between 2,400 and 2,800 m. Here, in the cool, moist habitat of a montane forest dominated by coniferous trees from the genera Phyllocladus and Podocarpus, it was found growing on a bank of the Iora Creek. It is similar to the type of genus Fuscoderma, F. applanatum, but is distinguished from that species by its smaller size, narrower, smooth lobes, and by the black rhizines on the thallus underside that, in young specimens, protrude out beyond the thallus.
Parmeliella triptophylloides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Pannariaceae. Found in east Africa, it was formally described as a new species in 2003 by Norwegian lichenologist Per Magnus Jørgensen. The type specimen was collected by Dutch mycologist Rudolf Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1949, from the Cherang'any Hills at an elevation of 900 m (3,000 ft). In addition to the type locality, it has also been recorded from the Luhangalo Plateau in Tanzania.
Lepidocollema marianum is a species of cyanolichen in the family Pannariaceae. It was first scientifically described by Elias Fries in 1825 as Parmelia mariana. Per Magnus Jørgensen transferred it to the genus Lepidocollema in 2014 following a molecular phylogenetics-guided revision of the Pannariaceae.
Astrochapsa sipmanii is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Graphidaceae. It is found in Singapore.
Lecanora lojkahugoi is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It is found in the Russian Far East and in South Korea.
Astrothelium aeneoides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, and Puerto Rico, where it grows on the smooth bark of rainforest trees.