Lecanora polytropa

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Lecanora polytropa
Lecanora polytropa - Flickr - pellaea (4).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Lecanoraceae
Genus: Lecanora
Species:
L. polytropa
Binomial name
Lecanora polytropa
(Ehrh.) Rabenh. (1845)
Synonyms
  • Verrucaria polytropaEhrh. (1796)

Lecanora polytropa, commonly known as the granite-speck rim lichen, is a species of saxicolous lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. A small, inconspicuous species that grows in the cracks of rock surfaces, it has a cosmopolitan distribution and has been recorded on all continents, including Antarctica.

Contents

Taxonomy

It was originally described by German botanist Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart in 1796 as a species of Verrucaria . [1] Gottlob Ludwig Rabenhorst transferred it to the genus Lecanora in 1845. [2]

It is commonly known as the granite-speck rim lichen. [3]

Description

Closeup of apothecia on rock surface; scale bar is 0.5 mm Lecanora polytropa - Flickr - pellaea (3).jpg
Closeup of apothecia on rock surface; scale bar is 0.5 mm

Lecanora polytropa has a scanty thallus, which sometimes resembles tiny pale yellowish areoles. The tiny, flat apothecia typically measure 0.3–0.9 mm in diameter and may be scattered or clustered together. They have a waxy texture and are yellow to pale orange, lacking pruina. The margins of the apothecia are smooth, not prominent, and tend to be lighter in colour than the central disc. Ascospores are ellipsoid and measure 8–15 by 5–7  μm. [3]

Habitat and distribution

Lecanora polytropa grows on siliceous rock, particularly granite. It prefers locations with full sun exposure. It is common on exposed granite boulders and outcrops throughout its range, although it may readily be missed due to its small size. [3] The lichen has a cosmopolitan distribution, and is known from all continents. [4] It is found in the maritime and continental Antarctic, including the Antarctic Peninsula, Queen Mary Land, and Victoria Land. [5]

In a study of the community structure of saxicolous lichens found on rock faces within a 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) radius of the Mount Tokachi volcano in Japan, researchers found that Lecanora polytropa thrived in the volcanic environment (close to the active fumarole) that was intolerable for many other species. Its tiny thalli can insert into the small depressions and cracks on the rock, helping it gain a foothold and begin surface colonization even when faced with the weathering associated with high winds and storms. [6] Lecanora polytropa is also involved in the succession of lichens that appear on gravestones, and tends to maintain its presence long after its initial colonization. [7] Lecanora polytropa was one of three lichens found growing at an altitude of 7,400 m (24,300 ft) in Makalu (Nepal)–the highest recorded elevation for lichen. [8]

Species interactions

Lecanora polytropa is a known host to the lichenicolous fungus species Carbonea aggregantula , [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Carbonea supersparsa , [14] [10] [13] Carbonea vitellinaria , [12] Cercidospora epipolytropa , [11] [12] Endococcus propinquus , [15] Lichenoconium lecanorae , [11] [12] Muellerella erratica , [11] [12] Muellerella lichenicola , [9] Muellerella pygmaea var. athallina [15] and Stigmidium squamariae . [12]

Similar species

Lecanora polytropa may be confused with L. fuscobrunnea , which has larger apothecia (up to 1.6 mm wide) that are partially blackened to completely black, and may have a rudimentary stipe. In L. polytropa, the apothecia are always sessile and not blackened. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Lecanora</i> Genus of lichen-forming fungi

Lecanora is a genus of lichen commonly called rim lichens. Lichens in the genus Squamarina are also called rim lichens. Members of the genus have roughly circular fruiting discs (apothecia) with rims that have photosynthetic tissue similar to that of the nonfruiting part of the lichen body (thallus). Other lichens with apothecia having margins made of thallus-like tissue are called lecanorine.

<i>Candelariella</i> Genus of lichens

Candelariella is a genus of bright yellow, ocher, or greenish yellow crustose or squamulose lichens in the family Candelariaceae. Members of the genus are commonly called eggyolk lichens, goldspeck lichens, or yolk lichens. The genus was circumscribed in 1894 by Swiss lichenologist Johannes Müller Argoviensis, with Candelariella vitellina assigned as the type species.

<i>Imshaugia</i> Genus of lichens

Imshaugia is a genus of seven species of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. They are commonly known as starburst lichens.

Lecanora printzenii is a species of crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. Originally found in Spain, it was described as new to science in 2011. It shares several characteristics with lichens of the Lecanora varia group but is differentiated by its unique sequence in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of its DNA and by several distinctive physical characteristics.

<i>Lecanora muralis</i> Species of lichen

Lecanora muralis(Protoparmeliopsis muralis) is a waxy looking, pale yellowish green crustose lichen that usually grows in rosettes radiating from a center (placodioid) filled with disc-like yellowish-tan fruiting bodies (apothecia). It grows all over the world. It is extremely variable in its characteristics as a single taxon, and may represent a complex of species. The fruiting body parts have rims of tissue similar to that of the main nonfruiting body (thallus), which is called being lecanorine. It is paler and greener than L. mellea, and more yellow than L. sierrae. In California, it may be the most common member of the Lecanora genus found growing on rocks (saxicolous).

<i>Candelariella vitellina</i> Species of lichen

Candelariella vitellina is a common and widespread green-yellow to orange-yellow crustose areolate lichen that grows on rock, wood, and bark, all over the world. It grows on non-calcareous rock, wood, and bark.

<i>Lecanora cenisia</i> Species of lichen

Lecanora cenisia is a species of crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It is a known host of the lichenicolous fungus species Carbonea supersparsa.

<i>Physcia caesia</i> Blue-gray foliose lichen found throughout much of the world

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.

Carbonea supersparsa is a species of lichenicolous fungus belonging to the family Lecanoraceae. It is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. In Iceland it has been reported growing on Lecanora cenisia near Egilsstaðir and Lecanora polytropa near Seyðisfjörður.

<i>Muellerella pygmaea</i> Species of fungus

Muellerella pygmaea is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the family Verrucariaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution in Arctic-alpine areas and grows on the thallus and apothecia of a number of hosts.

Phacopsis australis is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in a few locations in South Africa, where it grows on the thalli of several species of the leafy lichen genus Xanthoparmelia. Unlike other members of genus Phacopsis, the fungus does not induce the formation of galls in its host.

<i>Silobia rufescens</i> Species of fungi

Silobia rufescens is a lichenized fungus, with a dark gray or brown crust-like appearance. It is widespread, and grows on siliceous rock. S. rufescens is in the genus Silobia, which is segregated from the genus Acarospora due to its budding apothecia with only lateral exciple.

<i>Umbilicaria virginis</i> Species of lichen

Umbilicaria virginis, commonly known as the blushing rock tripe, is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) umbilicate lichen in the family Umbilicariaceae. It occurs in polar and alpine regions.

Lecanora ussuriensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It is found in single localities in the Primorsky Krai region of the Russian Far East, as well as in Japan.

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.

Phoma candelariellae is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-eating) fungus in the family Didymellaceae. It is found in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey and in Ukraine, where it grows parasitically on the apothecia of the saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen Candelariella aurella.

Carbonea assentiens is a species of lichen belonging to the family Lecanoraceae. It is found in Antarctica and in the islands of the subantarctic.

Carbonea aggregantula is a species of lichen belonging to the family Lecanoraceae.

<i>Dirina fallax</i> Species of lichen

Dirina fallax is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Roccellaceae. It is found in the western Mediterranean, the Atlantic coasts of both Africa and Europe, and central Europe, where it grows on siliceous and acidic rocks. In 2017, it was reported from the Abrau Peninsula in Russia.

<i>Polycauliona bolacina</i> Species of lichen

Polycauliona bolacina, the waxy firedot lichen, is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in western North America.

References

  1. ↑ Hoffmann, Georg Franz (1796). "Deutschlands Flora oder botanisches Taschenbuch. Zweyter Theil für das Jahr 1795". Cryptogamie (in Latin): 196.
  2. ↑ Rabenhorst, Ludwig (1845). Deutschlands Kryptogamenflora (in German). Vol. 2. E. Kummer. p. 37.
  3. 1 2 3 Brodo, Irwin M.; Sharnoff, Sylvia Duran; Sharnoff, Stephen (2001). Lichens of North America. Yale University Press. p. 387. ISBN   978-0300082494.
  4. ↑ Nash, T.H.; Ryan, B.D.; Gries, C.; Bungartz, F. (2004). Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol. 2. ISBN   978-0-9716759-1-9.
  5. 1 2 Smykla, Jerzy; Krzewicka, Beata; Wilk, Karina; Emslie, Steven D.; Śliwa, Lucyna (2011). "Additions to the lichen flora of Victoria Land, Antarctica" (PDF). Polish Polar Research. 32 (2): 123–138. doi: 10.2478/v10183-011-0009-5 .
  6. ↑ Shimizu, Akira (1994). "Community structure of lichens in the volcanic highlands of Mt. Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan". Bryologist. 107 (2): 141–151. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2004)107[0141:CSOLIT]2.0.CO;2. JSTOR   3244838. S2CID   85674266.
  7. ↑ Hill, David Jackson (1994). "The succession of lichens on gravestones: a preliminary investigation". Cryptogamic Botany. 4: 179–186.
  8. ↑ Scheidigger, Christoph (2021). "2.4. High alpine lichens". In Büdel, Burkhard; Friedl, Thomas (eds.). Life at Rock Surfaces: Challenged by Extreme Light, Temperature and Hydration Fluctuations. Life in Extreme Environments. Vol. 6. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 163. doi:10.1515/9783110646467-006. ISBN   978-3-11-064646-7.
  9. 1 2 Alstrup, Vagn; Hansen, Eric Steen; Daniels, Fred J. A. (2000). "Lichenized, lichenicolous and other fungi from North and North-East Greenland". Folia Cryptogamica Estonica. 37: 1–20.
  10. 1 2 Diederich, Paul (2003). "New species and new records of American lichenicolous fungi". Herzogia. 16: 41–90.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Kukwa, Martin; Flakus, Adam (2009). "New or interesting records of lichenicolous fungi from Poland VII. Species mainly from Tatra Mountains" (PDF). Herzogia. 22: 191–211.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zhurbenko, Mikhail (2009). "Lichenicolous fungi and lichens from the Holarctic. Part II". Opuscula Philolichenum. 7: 121–186.
  13. 1 2 Pirogov, M.; Chepelevska, N.; Vondrák, J. (2014). "Carbonea in Ukraine". Biologichni Studii. 8 (1): 137–148. doi: 10.30970/sbi.0801.317 .
  14. ↑ Orange, Alan (1990). "New or interesting lichens and Iichenicolous fungi from Iceland" (PDF). Acta Botanica Islandica . 10: 37–44.
  15. 1 2 Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004). Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir [Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi. Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X
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