Psilolechia lucida

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Psilolechia lucida
Psilolechia luicda (42199968580).jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Psilolechiaceae
Genus: Psilolechia
Species:
P. lucida
Binomial name
Psilolechia lucida
(Ach.) M.Choisy (1949)
Synonyms [1]
  • Lichen lucidusAch. (1799)
  • Lichen peltatus * lucida(Ach.) Lam. (1813)
  • Lecidea lucida(Ach.) Ach. (1803)
  • Patellaria lucida(Ach.) Spreng. (1827)
  • Biatora lucida(Ach.) Fr. (1831)
  • Patellaria theiotea(Ach.) Wallr. (1831)

Psilolechia lucida is a species of saxicolous lichen in the family Psilolechiaceae. It is widely distributed through the world, where it grows on natural and artificial rocky substrates in the shade, often in sheltered underhangs. It forms a greenish crust on the surface of its substrate.

Contents

Taxonomy

It was originally described by lichenologist Erik Acharius in 1799. Maurice Choisy placed it in the genus Psilolechia in 1949. [2] There are known to be two chemical races of P. lucida. The first, which is known all over the world, contains rhizocarpic acid as a major secondary substance as well as some unknown substances. The second, reported only from Australia and New Zealand, has both rhizocarpic acid and zeorin. [3]

Description

Psilolechia lucida forms a sulphur-yellow to yellowish green crust, although the colour is greener when the surface is wet. The crust comprises powdery soredia that can be thin or thick, and sometimes divided into irregular areoles. The apothecia (typically less than 0.3 mm in diameter) are yellow, ranging in shape from hemispherical to irregular and lumpy, and lack margins. The ascospores, which number eight per ascus, measure 4–7 by 1–2.5  μm. [4]

Habitat and distribution

This is a widespread species that is found throughout the world. [5] It is common and widely distributed in Europe. [6] In Asia, Psilolechia lucida has been reported from Japan; [7] from the Middle East is found in Turkey; [8] from Africa, it is known from the Canary Islands, and Madeira. [5] In South America, it has only been reported from Bolivia and Chile. [6] It has also been found in Oceania, [9] Central America, [5] and the Antarctic Peninsula. [10]

It grows on rocks, both calcareous and siliceous, as well as artificial rocky substrates such as bricks and concrete. The lichen grows in the shade, and is often found growing in sheltered underhangs. Rarely, it is found growing on hardwood tree bark, at the base of the tree or on the roots above ground. [3]

Similar species

Chrysothrix flavovirens , the yellow pine dust lichen, is similar in morphology and could be confused with Psilolechia lucida. They differ in their ecology, however: C. flavovirens grows on tree bark, whereas P. lucida is mostly grows on rocks and only sporadically is found as a facultative epiphyte. [3]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Chrysothrix candelaris</i> Species of lichen

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<i>Psilolechia</i> Genus of fungi

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<i>Lobaria scrobiculata</i> Species of lichen

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Crustose lichen

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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.

<i>Punctelia graminicola</i> Species of lichen

Punctelia graminicola is a species of foliose (leafy) lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It grows on rocks, and, less frequently, on bark in North America, South America, and East Africa. It has a blue-grey thallus measuring up to about 15 cm (6 in), covered with tiny pores called pseudocyphellae. Sometimes the lichen forms small lobes that project out from the surface. Fruiting bodies are uncommon in this species; if present, they resemble small cups with a brown internal disc measuring 3–10 mm (0.1–0.4 in) in diameter. A lookalike species, Punctelia hypoleucites, is not readily distinguishable from Punctelia graminicola by appearance or habitat alone; these species can only be reliably differentiated by examining the length of their conidia.

<i>Lepraria incana</i> Species of lichen

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.

<i>Ochrolechia africana</i> Species of lichen

Ochrolechia africana, commonly known as the frosty saucer lichen, is a species of crustose and corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Ochrolechiaceae. It is a widely distributed species, found in tropical and subtropical areas of southern Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America. The lichen is characterized by the presence of a white "frosty" or powdery apothecia.

<i>Chrysothrix flavovirens</i> Species of lichen

Chrysothrix flavovirens is a species of crustose and corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Chrysotrichaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 1994 by Tor Tønsberg as the sorediate counterpart of the common and widespread Chrysothrix candelaris. The type specimen was collected from Kirkeøy, Norway, where it was found growing on Picea abies. It has a pale greenish-yellow thallus that contains rhizocarpic acid. The lichen is widespread in Europe, and has also been recorded from Japan and North America. In the Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographic regions of Portugal, it prefers to grow on the acidic bark of coastal conifer trees.

Loxospora cristinae is a fungal species classified in 2018, found in a few European countries. It belongs to the division Ascomycota and the family Sarrameanaceae. It was first identified and described in the 19th century, but the species would not be correctly classified until almost two centuries later. Loxospora cristinae is a sterile crustose lichen, meaning it reproduces by a type of vegetative spore that has evolved specifically to produce morphological structures.

Micarea pauli is a species of corticolous and lignicolous, crustose lichen in the family Pilocarpaceae. It is only known to occur in Poland's Białowieża Forest.

Bacidina mendax is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Ramalinaceae. It is found in Central and Eastern Europe, where it grows on the bark of twigs and tree branches.

Inoderma sorediatum is a species of crustose lichen in the family Arthoniaceae. It is only known to occur on the bark of trees in Poland's Białowieża National Park. It is differentiated from other species in genus Inoderma by the form of its thallus, which is entirely made of powdery, granular soredia, as well as by the presence of a unique combination of lichen products.

<i>Bacidina pycnidiata</i> Species of lichen

Bacidina pycnidiata is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae. It is widely distributed in Europe and North Asia. It is characterised by its whitish or cream-coloured pycnidia with long and ostiolar necks.

Astrothelium pallidoflavum is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. Found in Bolivia, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologists Adam Flakus and André Aptroot. The type specimen was collected from Noel Kempff Mercado National Park at an altitude of 220 m (720 ft); there, in a Beni savanna with trees, the lichen was found growing on bark. It is only known to occur at the type locality. The species epithet refers to the characteristic pale yellow colour of the pseudostromata. Astrothelium pallidoflavum is similar to A. cinnamomeum, but has larger ascospores than that species.

References

  1. "Synonymy: Psilolechia lucida (Ach.) M. Choisy". Species Fungorum . Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  2. Choisy; M. (1949). "Catalogue des lichens de la region Lyonnaise. Fasc. 2". Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon (in French). 18: 137–152. doi:10.3406/linly.1949.13145.
  3. 1 2 3 Czarnota, Paweł; Kukwa, Martin (2008). "Contribution to the knowledge of some poorly known lichens in Poland. II. The genus Psilolechia". Folia Cryptog. Estonica. 44: 9–15.
  4. Brodo, Irwin M.; Sharnoff, Sylvia Duran; Sharnoff, Stephen (2001). Lichens of North America. Yale University Press. pp. 596–597. ISBN   978-0300082494.
  5. 1 2 3 Coppins, B.J.; Purvis, O.W. (1987). "A review of Psilolechia". Lichenologist. 19 (1): 29–42. doi:10.1017/S0024282987000045.
  6. 1 2 Flakus, Adam; Kukwa, Martin; Czarnota, Paweł (2006). "Some interesting records of lichenized and lichenicolous ascomycota from South America". Polish Botanical Journal. 51 (2): 209–215.
  7. Yoshimura, Isao; Harada, Hiroshi (2004). "Taxonomic notes on Psilolechia lucida as new for Japan". Lichenology. 3 (2): 41–46.
  8. John, Volker; Breuss, Othmar (2004). "Flechten der östlichen Schwarzmeer-Region in der Türkei (BLAM-Exkursion 1997)" (PDF). Herzogia (in German). 17: 137–156. S2CID   163317063. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-08.
  9. Elix, J.A.; McCarthy, P.M. (1998). Catalogue of the lichens of the smaller Pacific Islands. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 70. pp. 1–361.
  10. Øvstedal, D. O.; Smith, R. I. L. (2001). Lichens of Antarctica and South Georgia. A guide to their identification and ecology. Studies in Polar Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-66241-3.