| Lepraria salazinica | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Stereocaulaceae |
| Genus: | Lepraria |
| Species: | L. salazinica |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepraria salazinica Tønsberg (2007) | |
Lepraria salazinica is a species of rock-dwelling, leprose lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It is found in the eastern United States.
The lichen was described as a new species in 2007 by the Norwegian lichenologist Tor Tønsberg. The type specimen was collected by Tønsberg along Balsam Mountain road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here the lichen was growing on a rock under an overhang. The specific epithet refers to the presence of the secondary compound salazinic acid, which is rare in the genus Lepraria . It also contains atranorin and angardianic/roccellic acid. [1] Lepraria multiacida is another species in the genus known to produce salazinic acid, but only in minor amounts along with other substances. [2]
The lichen has a thin, grayish-white powdery to granular thallus that forms small patches on the rock surface. The photobiont partner of the lichen is trebouxioid: spherical unicellular green algae with cells measuring up to 13 μm in diameter. The distribution of the lichen is not well known, but it has been recorded from North Carolina and Tennessee. [1]
Lepraria is a genus of leprose crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains. Members of the genus are commonly called dust lichens. The main vegetative body (thallus) is made of patches of soredia. There are no known mechanisms for sexual reproduction, yet members of the genus continue to speciate. Some species can form marginal lobes and appear squamulose. Because of the morphological simplicity of the thallus and the absence of sexual structures, the composition of lichen products are important characters to distinguish between similar species in Lepraria.
Bryoria is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. Many members of this genus are known as horsehair lichens. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in boreal and cool temperate areas.
Leprocaulon is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Leprocaulaceae. Members of the genus Leprocaulon are commonly called mealy lichens.
Lepraria pacifica, the Pacific dust lichen, is a whitish-blue-green leprose crustose lichen that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked-up, mealy dust grains. Like other members of the Lepraria genus, it only reproduces asexually.
Punctelia reddenda is a widely distributed species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It occurs in Africa, Europe, North America, and South America, where it grows on bark and on rock.
Constipatic acid is a fatty acid found in several lichen species. It was isolated, identified, and named by Douglas Chester and John Alan Elix in a 1979 publication. The compound was extracted from the Australian leafy lichen called Xanthoparmelia constipata, which was collected on schist boulders west of Springton, South Australia. The related compounds protoconstipatic acid and dehydroconstipatic acid were also reported concurrently. Syo Kurokawa and Rex Filson had previously detected the compounds using thin-layer chromatography when they formally described the lichen as a new species in 1975, but had not characterised them chemically.
Lepraria incana is a species of dust lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. First described scientifically by Johann Jacob Dillenius in 1741, and then formally by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, it is the type species of the genus Lepraria. The thallus of this species is green to greyish-green, and powdery – as if made of tiny granules. These granules are soredia, which are asexual reproductive structures. Like most members of genus Lepraria, the lichen has few distinguishing features, lacking both a medulla and sexual reproductive structures (apothecia). Chemically, the lichen is characterised by the presence of the secondary chemicals known as divaricatic acid and zeorin.
Lepraria harrisiana is a species of leprose lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It is widespread in the eastern United States where it occurs in humid habitats, such as conifer swamps and riparian forests.
Lepraria juanfernandezii is a species of dust lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It was formally described as a new species by Martin Kukwa in 2019. The type was collected from Robinson Crusoe Island. Here it was found growing on bryophytes that were growing on a rock. It is only known from the type locality. The lichen contains divaricatic acid, a secondary metabolite known to exist in six other Lepraria species.
Salazinic acid is a depsidone with a lactone ring. It is found in some lichens, and is especially prevalent in Parmotrema and Bulbothrix, where its presence or absence is often used to help classify species in those genera.
Acanthothecis salazinica is a species of script lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Panama, it was described as a new species in 2013 by Pieter van den Boom and Harrie J. Sipman. The type specimen was collected near Paraíso, Panamá Province, close to the botanical garden in the Summit Park. Here it was growing on the bark of a cultivated Parmentiera cereifera tree. The lichen contains the secondary chemical salazinic acid, for which it is named. Acanthothecis subclavulifera is quite similar in morphology, but it contains protocetraric acid rather than salazinic acid and it has a different ascospore structure.
Pertusaria salazinica is a species of crustose lichen in the family Pertusariaceae. Found in Australia, it was described as a new species in 2017 by lichenologists Alan Archer and John Alan Elix. The type specimen was collected in Tully Gorge National Park (Queensland) at an altitude of 885 m (2,904 ft). Here, in a montane rainforest, it was found growing on a rotting log. The specific epithet refers to the presence of salazinic acid, a major secondary compound in the lichen. It also contains norstictic acid as a major metabolite, and connorstictic acid as a minor metabolite. Pertusaria salazinica is only known from the type specimen.
Xanthoparmelia salazinica is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in South Africa, it was described as a new species in 1989 by American lichenologist Mason Hale. He classified it in Karoowia, a genus that has since been placed in synonymy with Xanthoparmelia following molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2010.
Lepraria santosii is a species of crustose lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It occurs in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.
Chrysothrix xanthina is a widely distributed species of leprose lichen in the family Arthoniaceae. It has a bright yellow to bright greenish-yellow, thin, granular thallus, and typically grows on bark, although it is infrequently found growing on rock.
Lepraria granulata is a species of crustose and leprose lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It is found in mountainous locations of Eastern and Central Europe, where it usually grows over moss.
Andreiomyces is the sole genus in Andreiomycetaceae, a family in the order Arthoniales. Andreiomyces contains two lichen-forming fungi, both of which were previously classified in the genus Lepraria.
Botryolepraria is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), byssoid (cottony) lichens of uncertain familial placement in the order Verrucariales. It has two species. Both species grow in damp conditions, such as on cave walls, particularly in areas with minimal light.
Chrysothrix chlorina, the sulphur dust lichen, is a species of leprose (powdery) crustose lichen in the family Chrysotrichaceae. Originally described scientifically by the Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius over 200 years ago, it has been shuffled to many different genera in its taxonomic history before finally being transferred to Chrysothrix in 1981. The lichen has a circumboreal distribution, meaning it occurs in northern boreal regions across the planet. It is typically saxicolous (rock-dwelling), particularly on the underside of rock overhangs, but has in rare instances been recorded growing on bark and various other surfaces.
Tor Tønsberg is a Norwegian lichenologist who has made significant contributions to the taxonomy, chemistry, floristics, and phytogeography of lichens and lichenicolous fungi. Throughout his career, he has described more than one hundred species and genera new to science, advancing the knowledge of lichens in Europe and North America.