| Gyalolechia bracteata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Teloschistales |
| Family: | Teloschistaceae |
| Genus: | Gyalolechia |
| Species: | G. bracteata |
| Binomial name | |
| Gyalolechia bracteata | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Gyalolechia bracteata, the sulfur lichen, is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling) lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. [2] It is part of the biological soil crust ecological community in Europe and the United States.
The species was first described by German lichenologist Georg Franz Hoffmann in 1796, as Psora bracteata. [3] Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo transferred it to the genus Gyalolechia in 1852. [4] It has had a long taxonomic history, having been shuffled to many genera and sometimes reclassified as varieties or forms of other taxa. [1] It is commonly known as the "sulfur lichen". [5]
Gyalolechia bracteata forms a crust-like growth (thallus) on soil that appears granular or broken into small, island-like patches. The lichen is predominantly orange-yellow in colour, though some areas may appear white where the underlying fungal tissue ( hypothallus ) shows through. The surface has a frosted or powdery appearance. [5]
Unlike some related species, the edges of the lichen crust do not form distinct finger-like projections or lobes. The lichen commonly produces small, disc -shaped reproductive structures (apothecia) that are orange when fully developed and typically measure around 1 millimetre across. These structures produce microscopic spores that are transparent and single-celled, measuring 11–15 μm long by 5.5–8 μm wide. [5]
In Europe, Gyalolechia bracteata is a rare lichen species found in xerothermic (dry and warm) habitats. In Poland, it has been documented in the Ostnicowe Parowy Gruczna nature reserve along the lower Vistula River, where it forms part of a relict community of terricolous (ground-dwelling) lichens. This community, resembling the Toninio-Psoretum decipientis fulgensietum bracteatae association, survives on eroded sandy slopes isolated from agricultural runoff. G. bracteata is considered vulnerable on Poland's Red List of Threatened Lichens and is strictly protected by law. Its nearest known localities outside Poland are in southern Sweden and southern Poland, indicating a discontinuous continental distribution. The species' survival in this area, along with other rare xerothermic lichens, is attributed to specific habitat conditions that have persisted since early postglacial periods, as well as human activities that maintained open landscapes. [6]
Gyalolechia bracteata can be found across a wide range of elevations throughout the United States, growing in both arctic tundra environments and cool desert landscapes. While this lichen sometimes grows on limestone-rich (calcareous) soils in dry regions, it becomes particularly abundant on gypsum-containing soils, where it forms extensive communities alongside the pink soil lichen Psora decipiens . [5]
Psora is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Psoraceae. Members of the genus are commonly called fishscale lichens. Lichens in the genus Psora generally have a squamulose thallus and anthraquinones in the hymenium. Photobiont partners of Psora lichens include members of the green algal genera Asterochloris, Chloroidium, Myrmecia, and Trebouxia.
Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on land, some in freshwater and a few in the sea. Many are free-living but there are some species that are parasites on other lichens, while one marine species always lives together with a leafy green alga.
Acarospora is a genus of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the family Acarosporaceae. Most species in the genus are crustose lichens that grow on rocks in open and arid places all over the world. They may look like a cobblestone road or cracked up old paint, and are commonly called cobblestone lichens or cracked lichens. They usually grow on rock, but some grow on soil (terricolous) or on other lichens. Some species in the genus are fungi that live as parasites on other lichens. Acarospora is a widely distributed genus, with about 128 species according to a 2008 estimate.
Menegazzia terebrata is a species of foliose lichen found scattered across many continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Diploicia canescens is a widespread species of lichen-forming fungus in the family Caliciaceae. It is found throughout much of the world, occurring on every continent except Antarctica. It is a crustose lichen with distinctive lobed margins that grows in rosettes up to 6 cm (2.4 in) across, appearing white to pale gray with white-pruinose marginal lobes. The species contains various biologically active compounds including depsidones, depsides, and phthalides. It typically grows on rocks, old walls, and tree trunks, particularly favoring nutrient-enriched areas such as birds' perching stones, though it is sensitive to sulfur dioxide pollution. Two subspecies are recognized: D. c. canescens and D. c. australasica, which differ in their chemical composition.
Physcia caesia, known colloquially as blue-gray rosette lichen and powder-back lichen, is a species of foliose lichenized fungus. First described by Georg Franz Hoffmann in 1784, it is common across much of Europe, North America and New Zealand, and more patchily distributed in South America, Asia, Australia and Antarctica. There are 2 subspecies: P. c. caesia and P. c. ventosa, as well as a number of distinct forms and varieties. Molecular studies suggest that the species as currently defined may be polyphyletic. It is typically pale gray shading to darker gray in the center, and grows in a small rosette, usually some 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) across at maturity. It only rarely has apothecia, instead reproducing most often vegetatively via soredia, which are piled in round blue-gray mounds across the thallus's upper surface. It grows most often on rock—principally calcareous, but also basaltic and siliceous—and also occurs on bone, bark and soil. It is nitrophilic and is particularly common on substrates where birds perch.
Gyalolechia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi belonging to the family Teloschistaceae. It contains 18 species of crustose lichens.
Buellia lobata is a species of terricolous (soil-dwelling) lichen in the family Caliciaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2001 by lichenologists Ulrike Trinkaus and John Elix. The type specimen was collected in Blanchetown ; here, in a parking area after the bridge, on the east side of the Murray River, the lichen was found growing on soil. It has also been recorded from Western Australia. The lichen occurs on calcareous soil in mallee, often with other terricolous lichens including species of Endocarpon, Toninia, Eremastriella crystallifera, Fulgensia bracteata, and Psora decipiens. Secondary compounds that occur in the lichen include arthothelin and thuringione as major components, and minor amounts of 4,5-dichloronorlichexanthone and thiophanic acid. The species epithet lobata refers to the distinct lobes that comprise the thallus.
Psora taurensis is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling), squamulose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It is found in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey.
Phacopsis thallicola is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Parmeliaceae. It was first formally described as a new species in 1852 by Italian botanist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo, as Lecidea thallicola. The type specimen, collected from the province of Treviso in Italy, was growing on the foliose lichen Parmelia caperata. Dagmar Triebel and Gerhard Walter Rambold transferred the taxon to the genus Phacopsis in 1988. The known generic hosts of Phacopsis thallicola are all in the Parmeliaceae: Parmotrema, Cetrelia, Flavopunctelia, and Hypotrachyna.
Ochrolechia upsaliensis is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ochrolechiaceae. Found in the Northern Hemisphere, it is commonly known as the tundra saucer lichen.
Heppia arenacea is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling) lichen in the family Lichinaceae. Discovered in Yemen, it is characterized by its sand-coloured thallus and the incorporation of soil particles throughout its vegetative parts. The lichen is found in soil crust communities over limestone and basaltic rock in desert habitats, as well as in partially sheltered areas between large boulders.
Sarcogyne brunnea is a species of saxicolous and terricolous, crustose lichen in the family Acarosporaceae. It is found at high altitudes in arid regions of the Andes, growing on volcanic rock and soil. It has an areolate and densely pruinose brown thallus.
Circinaria mansourii is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Megasporaceae. It is primarily found on soil or plant debris in Iran, particularly in the mountainous steppe-like habitats. It was described as new to science in 2011.
Psora altotibetica is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling), squamulose lichen in the family Psoraceae. It occurs in the Tibetan region of China and in Nepal. The species bears a resemblance to Psora indigirkae but is genetically closer to Psora tenuifolia and Psora vallesiaca. It differs from the rest in certain features such as the colour of its apothecia, size of ascospores, and secondary chemical composition. The lichen's habitat is in the alpine zones of the Great Himalayas at altitudes between 4,230 and 5,000 m.
Gallowayella fulva is a species of foliose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It was first scientifically described in 1796 by German lichenologist Georg Franz Hoffmann, who classified it as a member of genus Lobaria. It has also been classified in the genera Oxneria, Xanthomendoza and Xanthoria in its taxonomic history. Sergey Kondratyuk and colleagues transferred the taxon to the genus Gallowayella in 2012, based on a molecular phylogenetics-based restructuring of some genera in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of family Teloschistaceae. In North America, one vernacular name for the species is the bare-bottomed sunburst lichen.
Gyalolechia fulgens, the scrambled egg lichen, is a species of terricolous (ground-dwelling), squamulose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. The lichen comprises overlapping, slightly pruinose lemon-yellow scales with a lobed margin. It grows on highly calcareous substrates such as chalk, limestone and shell sand, often in association with the moss species Trichostomum crispulum.
Enchylium polycarpon, commonly known as the shaly jelly lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Collemataceae. Formerly known as Collema polycarpon, it was renamed in 2013 as part of a taxonomic revision. This lichen has a widespread global distribution, occurring in various regions of North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Blastodesmia is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Pyrenulaceae. It contains the single species Blastodesmia nitida, a corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen found in Europe. Both the genus and the species were described in 1852 by the Italian botanist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo. Historically, two other species have been included in the genus, but are currently not accepted by Species Fungorum:
Romjularia is a fungal genus in the family Lecideaceae, containing the single species Romjularia lurida, a saxicolous and terricolous squamulose lichen.