Caloplaca ferruginea var. hungarica(H.Magn.) Clauzade & Cl.Roux (1985)
Blastenia hungarica is a species of crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae.[2] It forms a thin grey crust on twigs and branches of both deciduous and coniferous trees, producing small orange to pale red fruiting bodies. The species is found across Europe and the Mediterranean region, from southern Scandinavia to Turkey and the Caucasus. Originally described from Hungary in 1944, it was transferred to its current genus in 2013 based on molecular evidence.
Blastenia hungarica forms a thin, grey, crustose thallus (typically under 100μm thick) and lacks vegetative diaspores such as soredia or isidia. Apothecia are consistently small, about 0.3–0.8mm across, with orange to pale red discs ; pycnidia, when present, are dark grey due to the Cinereorufa-green pigment but are usually sparse. The ascospores are polarilocular and mostly about 13–14μm long. These traits place the species in the "Hungarica group", whose members characteristically have reduced apothecial size (an adaptation linked to frequent growth on twigs).[6]
In apothecial chemistry, B.hungarica shows only non-chlorinated anthraquinones (e.g., parietin series) and lacks chlorinated anthraquinones; the thallus itself is usually without anthraquinones. Cinereorufa-green may be detectable around pycnidial ostioles and in damaged apothecia but is otherwise inconspicuous. Within Blastenia, this pattern contrasts with the chlorinated chemotype of the closely related B.subathallina.[6]
Habitat and distribution
Blastenia hungarica is an epiphytic lichen, occurring mainly on twigs and occasionally on tree trunks) or exposed wood. It has been recorded on both deciduous and coniferous hosts, but shows a preference for smaller branches, a trait common to members of the so-called Hungarica group. The species occurs from lowlands to montane elevations of about 2,000m. In northern parts of its range, such as Scandinavia, it is found mostly below 400m, whereas in Mediterranean regions it becomes restricted to higher elevations, generally above 800m.[6]
Its confirmed distribution is centred in Europe and the adjacent Mediterranean region, extending from southern Scandinavia southward to Italy and eastward to Turkey and the Caucasus. Records from Iberia and Macaronesia that were formerly referred to as B.hungarica have been shown to represent other species, chiefly Blastenia xerothermica in Mediterranean habitats and Blastenia palmae in coastal western Europe and Macaronesia.[6]
↑ Magnusson, A.H. (1944). "Studies in the ferruginea-group of the genus Caloplaca". Göteborgs Kungliche Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets Samhälles Handlingar. 3 (1): 1–71 [28].
↑ Clauzade, G.; Roux, C. (1985). Likenoj de Okcidenta Europa. Ilustrita determinlibro[Lichens of Western Europe. Illustrated identification guide]. Bulletin de la Société Botanique du Centre-Ouest (in Esperanto). Vol.7. Société botanique du Centre-Ouest. p.824.
↑ Arup, Ulf; Søchting, Ulrik; Frödén, Patrik (2013). "A new taxonomy of the family Teloschistaceae". Nordic Journal of Botany. 31 (1): 16–83 [68]. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.2013.00062.x.
1 2 3 4 Vondrák, Jan; Frolov, Ivan; Košnar, Jiří; Arup, Ulf; Veselská, Tereza; Halıcı, Gökhan; Malíček, Jiří; Søchting, Ulrik (2020). "Substrate switches, phenotypic innovations and allopatric speciation formed taxonomic diversity within the lichen genus Blastenia". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 58 (3): 295–330. doi:10.1111/jse.12503.
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