Lecanographa lyncea (Sm.) Egea & Torrente

Data Set Maintenance: Data set authentic and standard item. Data set author(s): Egea J. M. & Torrente P. (00-03-23). Data set not to be published after submission.

Nomenclature: Current taxonomic status: accepted. Taxonomic rank: species. Lecanographa. Genus of unknown placement (incertae sedis) (Roccellaceae Chevall. 1826); Arthoniales.

Taxonomic Literature: Egea J.M., Torrente P. & Manrique E., Pl. Syst. Evol. 187: 103-114 (1993); Egea J. M. & Torrente P., Bibliohteca Lichenologica 54: 1-205 (1994); Torrente P. & Egea J.M., Bibliotheca Lichenologica 32: 1-282 (1989).

Biogeography: Continent: Africa, Europe, Northern America, and Southern America. Checklist records: Sonoran Desert and Italy.

Ecology: Biotroph; lichenized; lignicolous or corticolous; episubstratic; growing partially shaded or fully shaded; under conditions which are dry.

Lichen Photobionts: Primary photobiont present; trentepohlioid.

Thallus: Crustose, not subdivided parts, rimose or areolate (primarily areolate); separate thallus parts thin. Thallus Outline: Soon disappearing or persistent; vestigial. Upper Surface: White or pale grey, smooth, pulverulaceous; special structures absent; epruinose; without hairs; not sorediate; soralia isolated, not confluent with other soralia.

Reproduction Strategy: With sexual (and possible asexual) stages. Ascocarps: Apothecioid, rarely orbicular or linear, forming independently from the host thallus or mycelium, not emerging, becoming adnate to rarely soon sessile, not constricted at the base, moderately abundant to abundant, .2-.5 mm in diam.. Margin: Smooth, excluded, indistinct to distinct, black or dark brown, slightly pruinose; with surface structures surface structures; external filaments absent. Disk: Plane to slightly weakly convex; black or dark brown; pruinose, pruina scarce or abundant, white. Exciple: Hyphae not easily discerned; carbonized; brownish red; inspersed with crystals. Amphithecium (thalline excipulum): Photobiont absent. Episamma: With episamma; insoluble in KOH. Epithecium: With epithecium; apical cells slightly swollen, 3-3.5 µm wide, surrounded by a diffuse pigment, dark brown. Hymenium: 55-85 µm high; white; iodine reaction: Lugol’s negative or Lugol’s positive; hemiamyloid. Interascal Hyphae: Present, distinctly branched, distinctly anastomosed; cells 1-1.5 µm wide. Subhymenium: 15-35 µm high; pale brown. Hypothecium: Brownish red; pigment homogenously distributed throughout.

Asci: Narrowly clavate; indistinctly stipitate, 55-75-(80) µm long, 12-14-(17) µm wide; tholus thickened, amyloid, hemiamyloid, in Lugol's Solution + light blue, with amyloid tube; dehiscence bitunicate; endoascus with a hemiamyloid inner layer.

Ascospores: c. 8 per ascus, fusiform, 17-25-(30) µm long, 3-4-(4.5) µm wide, aciculate; septa present; 6-7-(8)-transversally septate; lumina apically and basally tapering; wall thin, becoming pigmented, hyaline or pale brown, not ornamented, distinctly halonate, i.e., with a thick mucilaginous sheath.

Conidiomata: Present; pycnidial; moderately abundant; immersed.

Pycnidia: Globular or subglobular. Conidia: Bacilliform; microconidial; 4-6 µm long; 1 µm wide; aseptate.

Secondary Metabolites: Not detected or present; metabolite(s) of unresolved identity: absent or present.

Spot Tests: Ascocarp margin (in section): K + green.

(report generated 25.Okt.2007)