Rhizocarpon austroalpinum | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
Order: | Rhizocarpales |
Family: | Rhizocarpaceae |
Genus: | Rhizocarpon |
Species: | R. austroalpinum |
Binomial name | |
Rhizocarpon austroalpinum | |
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Holotype: Mount Pillinger, Tasmania |
Rhizocarpon austroalpinum is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Rhizocarpaceae. [1] This species can be recognised by its distinctive whitish to pale grey body (thallus) and its large, often partly sunken or barely raised fruiting structures (apothecia). It occurs in Australia.
The species was described by the lichenologists Patrick M. McCarthy, John Elix, and Gintaras Kantvilas based on specimens collected by Kantvilas from Mount Pillinger in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, at an elevation of 1,270 m (4,170 ft). The species epithet austroalpinum alludes to the species' distribution in southern alpine regions. [2]
The thallus of Rhizocarpon austroalpinum is crustose and epilithic (on the rock surface), spreading up to approximately 5 cm in width, and typically off-white to medium greenish-grey. The thallus is 80–400 μm thick and composed of contiguous or scattered areoles that are dull, smooth, and can be flat or moderately to strongly convex. These areoles may be angular to somewhat rounded, with a clearly defined cortex that is 7–15 μm thick. [2]
Apothecia (fruiting bodies) are numerous, dull black, and round to irregular, often due to mutual pressure, measuring 0.43 to 1.38 mm in diameter. The apothecia are characterised by a thin to moderately thick proper exciple , producing a deep red leachate when treated with potassium hydroxide solution, and a thick, dark hypothecium ranging from 160 to 450 μm. The ascospores are hyaline, mostly submuriform (having internal septa arranged somewhat brick-like), and measure 18 to 37 by 9 to 17 μm. [2]
Rhizocarpon austroalpinum is known from cold and sun-exposed alpine regions in Tasmania and the Mount Kosciuszko area in New South Wales, where it typically grows on dolerite boulder. [2]
Phlyctis psoromica is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Phlyctidaceae. Native to New South Wales, Australia, it was described as new to science in 2011. This lichen is characterised by its whitish to pale blue-grey crustose thallus and distinctive secondary chemistry.
Hertelidea wankaensis is a species of crustose lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. It is found in northeastern Australia, where it grows on dead wood.
Coenogonium australiense is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Coenogoniaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2018 by lichenologists Gintaras Kantvilas and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected by the first author near Little Fisher River (Tasmania) at an altitude of 880 m (2,890 ft), where it was found in a rainforest growing on Nothofagus cunninghamii. The species epithet australiense refers to its geographical distribution. In addition to Tasmania, the lichen has also been documented from New South Wales and Kangaroo Island. In the latter location it was found in remnant stands of coniferous woodland, where it was growing on the bark of old, fissured Callitris trunks.
Caloplaca aliciae is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. It is characterised by a thallus that can grow up to 2 cm wide, featuring colours from dull pink to dull brown, with small, dispersed, flat areoles that are irregularly shaped and occasionally dissected by cracks, displaying a whitish, dull pink, or dull orange-brown surface. Its apothecia are lecanorine in form, initially immersed but often rising above the areoles, with each areole containing one or two apothecia that have a thalline margin matching the thallus colour.
Caloplaca conranii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. The lichen has a bright yellow thallus about 1–2 cm wide, featuring a thick texture with convex, pustule-like formations around the edges and occasionally forming clusters in the centre. Its apothecia are quite large and heavy, ranging from 0.4 to 1.5 mm in diameter, with a flat, dull orange or brownish-orange disc, and long, narrow ascospores.
Elixjohnia bermaguiana is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen is characterised by its varying areoles, which are thin to moderately thick, flat to slightly convex, and range from bright yellow to whitish in colour, sometimes with a greenish-yellow hue. Its apothecia are small, with a distinct orange margin and a raised brownish-orange or yellowish-brown disc.
Filsoniana kiamae is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen forms small rosettes with brownish-orange areoles, and it occasionally develops isidia. Its rare apothecia are round, with brownish-orange margins and a reddish disc.
Neobrownliella montisfracti is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The small lichen has dull pink to grey areoles, characterised by completely immersed, reddish to pink-brown apothecia and lacking soredia and isidia. Its areoles are closely pressed against the substrate, with the apothecia containing small, elongated ascospores and narrowly rod-shaped conidia.
Sirenophila maccarthyi is a species of corticolous/lignicolous, crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It has a thallus that is whitish or greyish, often inconspicuous and not always continuous, which can appear darker or dirty grey near its numerous, clustered apothecia. Sirenophila maccarthyi is distributed across regions including Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand, in both coastal and inland habitats. It typically grows on the bark and dead wood of a wide range of trees and shrubs such as Acacia sophorae, Araucaria excelsa, and various Eucalyptus species.
Xanthoparmelia somervilleae is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in Tasmania, Australia.
Eilifdahlia sergeyana is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is endemic to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The lichen thallus has an uneven and scaly texture, forming patches up to 40 mm wide in dull greenish-grey or brownish-grey. Its fruiting bodies (apothecia) are orange to yellow, with a biatorine structure, and range from 0.5 to 1 mm wide. These apothecia have a matte surface and a cup-shaped margin containing golden-yellow crystals. The paraphyses within are slender and branched, and the asci contain ellipsoid spores.
Tetramelas gariwerdensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Physciaceae, described in 2020. It is found in the Grampian Mountains in western Victoria, Australia.
Flavoplaca kantvilasii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2007.
Filsoniana ferdinandmuelleri is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen has a squamulose (scaly) thallus, with a range of bright yellow to greenish-yellow and brownish-orange colours in its soredia and apothecia, respectively. The areoles of this lichen are varied in size, slightly raised from the thallus surface, and each carries one to four apothecia. The soralia are rounded or irregularly shaped, covering most of the thallus surface as a yellow to greenish-yellow mass. The apothecia have dark brownish-orange discs, surrounded by slightly paler yellow margins, with the spore-bearing asci containing typically eight brownish-golden ascospores.
Rhizocarpon torquatum is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Rhizocarpaceae. This species is recognised by its pale, thick, smooth, areolate thallus that contains hypostictic acid as a major metabolite, and its large apothecia that are distinctively adorned with a whitish inner collar in immature stages.
Rhizocarpon exiguum is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Rhizocarpaceae. This Tasmanian species is characterised by its minimalistic appearance with very small apothecia and a thallus that is pale, sparse and areolate.
Meridianelia is a fungal genus in the family Elixiaceae. It consists of the single species Meridianelia maccarthyana, a corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen. This lichen forms greyish-white, crust-like growths on tree bark in subalpine woodlands of Tasmania, Australia. Discovered in 2003 and scientifically described in 2009, Meridianelia is classified in the small fungal family Elixiaceae based on its genetic and structural characteristics. The genus is notable for its unique reproductive structures and its apparent rarity, having been found in only a few locations despite growing in a relatively common type of forest.
Rhizocarpon austroamphibium is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Rhizocarpaceae. It is found in alpine environments in southwestern Tasmania, Australia.
Rhizocarpon vigilans is a species of crustose lichen in the family Rhizocarpaceae. It is native to the southern Australian Capital Territory, particularly found in the Namadgi National Park on the summit of Sentry Box Mountain.
Rhizocarpon flavomedullosum is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Rhizocarpaceae. It is native to the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales and the nearby mountain tops in the southern Australian Capital Territory, where it grows on both exposed and sheltered siliceous rocks such as sandstone, schist, and granite.