Phyllopsora pyxinoides
| Phyllopsora pyxinoides | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ramalinaceae |
| Genus: | Phyllopsora |
| Species: | P. pyxinoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Phyllopsora pyxinoides (Nyl.) Kistenich, Timdal, Bendiksby & S.Ekman (2018) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Phyllopsora pyxinoides is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), lichen-forming fungus in the family Ramalinaceae.[2] It was first described by William Nylander in 1891 from Cuban material, originally under the name Crocynia pyxinoides, and was transferred to Phyllopsora in 2018. The lichen forms whitish to blue-grey crusts with a black underside and produces small, dark, convex fruiting bodies. It is widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics, with records from the Americas, South and Southeast Asia.
Taxonomy
It was first formally described by the Finnish lichenologist William Nylander in 1891 as Crocynia pyxinoides.[3] The species was based on Charles Wright's Cuban material, with the holotype preserved in Nylander's herbarium (specimen H-NYL 22059). The specimen label refers to a published set of Cuban lichen specimens (Lichenes Cubenses, series 2, no. 145) assembled by Tuckerman and Wright.[4] The taxon was reclassified in the genus Phyllopsora in 2018.[5]
Description
In the original description, Nylander characterized the lichen body (thallus) as whitish to blue-grey, closely pressed to its substrate, and arranged in somewhat overlapping, shallowly scalloped lobes that give the whole patch a vaguely rosette-like (placodioid) outline. He noted that the underside is black, with even the upper edges of the lobes faintly darkened. The fruiting bodies (apothecia) were described as dark brown to black, convex, and lacking a rim of thalline tissue (thalline margin), measuring about 0.5–0.8 mm across. Each spore-bearing sac (ascus) contains eight ascospores, which are undivided (simple), ellipsoid to oblong, and about 4–6 by 2 micrometres. The surface layer of the fruiting disc (epithecium) was colourless, the tissue beneath it (hypothecium) brown, and the spore-producing layer (hymenium) turned blue and then quickly tawny-red in iodine. Nylander also described the species as bark-dwelling and distinguished it by its relatively thick thallus—up to about 0.5 mm—that gives no reaction to potassium hydroxide (K−) and has a black underside.[3]
Habitat and distribution
Phyllopsora pyxinoides is widely distributed in Brazil, where it has been documented from numerous states.[6] It has also been found in Colombia,[7] in mainland Ecuador,[8] Mexico,[9] and Florida.[10] Outside of the Americas, the lichen has been reported from South and Southeast Asia, including India,[11] Sri Lanka,[12] and Thailand.[13]
References
- ↑ "Phyllopsora pyxinoides". Fungal Names. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
- ↑ "Phyllopsora pyxinoides (Nyl.) Kistenich, Timdal, Bendiksby & S.Ekman". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
- 1 2 Nylander, W. (1891). Sertum Lichenaeae Tropicae e Labuan et Singapore (in Latin). Paris: Schmidt. p. 37.
- ↑ "H-NYL 22059 holotype". MycoBank. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
- ↑ Kistenich, Sonja; Timdal, Einar; Bendiksby, Mika; Ekman, Stefan (2018). "Molecular systematics and character evolution in the lichen family Ramalinaceae (Ascomycota: Lecanorales)". Taxon. 67 (5): 871–904. doi:10.12705/675.1. hdl:11250/2599544.
- ↑ Aptroot, André; da Silva Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia; dos Santos, Lidiane Alves; Benatti, Michel N.; Canêz, Luciana; Forno, Manuela Dal; Feuerstein, Shirley C.; Vidigal Fraga Junior, Carlos Augusto; Gerlach, Alice C.L.; Gumboski, Emerson Luiz; Jungbluth, Patrícia; Käffer, Márcia I.; Kalb, Klaus; Koch, Natália M.; Lücking, Robert; Torres, Jean-Marc; Spielmann, Adriano A. (2025). "The Brazilian lichen checklist: 4,828 accepted taxa constitute a country-level world record". The Bryologist. 128 (2): 96–423 [267]. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-128.2.96.
- ↑ Lücking, Robert; Moncada, Bibiana; Soto-Medina, Edier; Simijaca, Diego; M. Sipman, Harrie J. (2021). "Actualización nomenclatural y taxonómica del Catálogo de Líquenes de Colombia". Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (in Spanish): 147–189. doi:10.18257/raccefyn.1266.
- ↑ Boom, P. van den; Divakar, P.; Ertz, D.; Etayo, J.; Moberg, R.; Sipman, H. (2022). "New or otherwise interesting records of lichens and lichenicolous fungi from mainland Ecuador and surroundings with descriptions of five new species" (PDF). Acta Botanica Hungarica. 64 (3–4): 417–450 [445]. doi:10.1556/034.64.2022.3-4.13.
- ↑ Pérez-pérez, Rosa Emilia; Castillo-Campos, Gonzalo; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2015). "Diversity of corticolous lichens in cloud forest remnants in La Cortadura, Coatepec, Veracruz, México in relation to phorophytes and habitat fragmentation". Cryptogamie, Mycologie. 36 (1): 79–92. doi:10.7872/crym.v36.iss1.2015.79.
- ↑ DeBolt, Ann M.; Rosentreter, Roger; Martin, Erin P. (2007). "Macrolichen diversity in subtropical forests of north-central Florida". The Bryologist. 110 (2): 254–265. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2007)110[254:mdisfo]2.0.co;2.
- ↑ Daimari, Rebecca; Nayaka, Sanjeeva; Kumar, Vishal; Joseph, Siljo; Upreti, Dalip Kumar; Islary, Pungbili (2025). "Phyllopsora pyxinoides, a new record of lichenized fungi to India and 29 others new to Assam". Journal of Bamboo and Rattan. 24 (1): 1–15. doi:10.55899/09734449/jbr024101.
- ↑ Weerakoon, Gothamie; Aptroot, André (2014). "Over 200 new lichen records from Sri Lanka, with three new species to science". Cryptogamie, Mycologie. 35 (1): 51–62. doi:10.7872/crym.v35.iss1.2014.51.
- ↑ Boonpragob, K.; Homchantara, N.; Coppins, B.J.; McCarthy, P.M.; Wolseley, P.A. (1998). "An introduction to the lichen flora of Khao Yai National Park, Thailand". Botanical Journal of Scotland. 50 (2): 209–219. doi:10.1080/03746609808684918.