Lecania

For the genus of robber flies, see Lecania (fly).

Lecania
Lecania fructigena
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Ramalinaceae
Genus:
A.Massal. (1853)
Type species
Lecania fuscella
(Schaer.) A.Massal. (1853)
Synonyms[1]
  • Bayrhofferia Trevis. (1857)
  • Dimerospora Th.Fr. (1860)
  • Lecaniella Jatta (1889)
  • Dyslecanis Clem. (1909)
  • Adermatis Clem. (1909)
  • Lecaniomyces E.A.Thomas (1939)
  • Oxnerella S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2014)

Lecania is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae.[2] Lecania is widely distributed, especially in temperate regions, and contains about 65 species.[3] These lichens form thin, crusty growths on various surfaces and produce small disc-shaped fruiting bodies that are typically brown to black in colour. Most species reproduce both sexually through spores and asexually through tiny reproductive structures, allowing them to spread effectively in their environments.

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed by Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1853. He assigned Lecania fuscella as the type species.[4]

Description

Lecania forms a crustose thallus—that is, a thin, paint-like growth tightly attached to the substrate. Depending on the species, this crust may be only a fraction of a millimetre thick or develop into a more robust layer that cracks into tiny plates (areoles) or wart-like bumps. In a few taxa the surface becomes minutely lobed or covered with powdery reproductive tissues such as soralia or tiny grain-like propagules (blastidia, goniocysts) that help the lichen spread vegetatively. Colours range from grey-white and pale yellow to deep brown-black; many specimens acquire a frost-like coating of minute crystals called pruina, and some have a dead, transparent epinecral film that gives a slightly glazed look. The upper cortex is built of tightly packed fungal cells, though in some species this layer is so saturated with crystals that its cellular structure is obscured. The photosynthetic partner is always a single-celled green alga of the chlorococcoid type, which nestles within the medulla just beneath the cortex.[5]

The sexual fruiting bodies are tiny, stalk-less discs (apothecia) that appear flat when young but often bulge into low domes with age. Measuring roughly 0.4–0.6 mm across (occasionally up to 1 mm), these discs vary in colour from pale brown through orange to almost black and may also carry a dusting of pruina. They are usually rimmed by a thin band of thallus tissue, though this margin can erode in older specimens. Viewed in section, the hymenium (the fertile layer) is colourless but turns blue when stained with iodine. Slender paraphyses thread through the hymenium; their tips often swell or darken, giving a mottled, "piebald" appearance when the disc is wetted. Each ascus ordinarily houses eight colourless ascospores (occasionally up to sixteen) that are one- to three-septate, though some species may have spores with as many as seven internal walls. Spores are thin-walled, sausage- to spindle-shaped, and longer examples can curve gently. Asexual reproduction is common on bark-dwelling species: flask-shaped pycnidia produce tiny, curved conidia.[5]

Most Lecania species lack distinctive secondary metabolites, but a few contain the lichen substance atranorin or various unidentified terpenes. Pigments within the apothecia sometimes give positive colour reactions with standard chemical spot tests (K or N).[5]

Species

As of June 2025, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 65 species of Lecania.[6]

  • Lecania arizonica B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania atrynioides M.Knowles (1913)[7]
  • Lecania azorica van den Boom (2016)[8]
  • Lecania baeomma (Nyl.) P.James & J.R.Laundon (1980)
  • Lecania belgica van den Boom & Reese Næsb. (2007)[9]
  • Lecania brattiae B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania caloplacicola B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania chalcophila B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania chirisanensis S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2015)[10]
  • Lecania chlaronoides Müll.Arg. (1895)[11]
  • Lecania circumpallescens (Nyl.) Kotlov (2004)
  • Lecania coeruleorubella (Mudd) M.Mayrhofer (1988)
  • Lecania coerulescens Mudd (1861)
  • Lecania coreana S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2013)[12]
  • Lecania croatica (Zahlbr.) Kotlov (2004)
  • Lecania cuprea (A.Massal.) van den Boom & Coppins (1992)
  • Lecania cyrtella (Ach.) Th.Fr. (1871)
  • Lecania cyrtellina (Nyl.) Zahlbr. (1871)
  • Lecania dubitans (Nyl.) A.L.Sm. (1918)
  • Lecania erysibe (Ach.) Mudd (1861)
  • Lecania euphorbiae van den Boom & Etayo (2017)[13]
  • Lecania fabacea (Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg. (1895)
  • Lecania franciscana (Tuck.) K.Knudsen & Lendemer (2007)
  • Lecania fructigena Zahlbr. (1914)
  • Lecania fuscella (Schaer.) A.Massal. (1853)
  • Lecania fuscelloides B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania glauca Øvstedal & Søchting (2004)
  • Lecania graminum (Vain.) J.Gerasimova & S.Ekma (2017)
  • Lecania granulata Coppins & Fryday (2012)[14]
  • Lecania heardensis C.W.Dodge (1948)[15]
  • Lecania hutchinsiae (Nyl.) A.L.Sm. (1918)
  • Lecania hydrophobica T.Sprib. & Fryday (2020)[16]
  • Lecania inundata (Hepp ex Körb.) M.Mayrhofer (1987)
  • Lecania johnstonii C.W.Dodge (1948)[15]
  • Lecania juniperi van den Boom (2012)[17]
  • Lecania leprosa Reese Næsb. & Vondrák (2008)
  • Lecania madida Reese Næsb. & Björk (2008)
  • Lecania makarevicziae Moniri, S.Y.Kondr. & van den Boom (2016)
  • Lecania maritima Kantvilas & van den Boom (2015)
  • Lecania molliuscula Müll.Arg. (1895)
  • Lecania muelleriana Zahlbr. (1928)
  • Lecania naegelii (Hepp) Diederich & van den Boom (1994)
  • Lecania nigra van den Boom & Ertz (2012)[17]
  • Lecania nylanderiana A.Massal. (1856)
  • Lecania olivacella (Nyl.) Zahlbr. (1928)
  • Lecania pacifica Zahlbr. ex B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania poeltii van den Boom, Alonso & Egea (1996)[18]
  • Lecania polycarpa (Müll.Arg.) Kantvilas & van den Boom (2015)
  • Lecania polycycla (Anzi) Lettau (1912)
  • Lecania rabenhorstii (Hepp) Arnold (1884)
  • Lecania rinodinoides S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2013)
  • Lecania ryaniana van den Boom (2004)
  • Lecania sanguinolenta (Stirt.) Zahlbr. (1928)
  • Lecania sessilisoraliata Yazıcı & Aptroot (2017)[19]
  • Lecania sipmanii van den Boom & Zedda (2000)
  • Lecania sordida Reese Næsb. (2008)
  • Lecania spadicea (Flot.) Zahlbr. (1915)
  • Lecania suavis (Müll.Arg.) Mig. (1926)
  • Lecania subfuscula (Nyl.) S.Ekman (1996)
  • Lecania sylvestris (Arnold) Arnold (1884)
  • Lecania triseptatoides van den Boom & Moniri (2018)
  • Lecania turicensis (Hepp) Müll.Arg. (1862)
  • Lecania vermispora Fryday (2019)[20] – Falkland Islands

References

  1. ^ "Synonymy. Current Name: Lecania A. Massal., Alcuni Gen. Lich.: 12 (1853)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  2. ^ Wijayawardene, Nalin; Hyde, Kevin; Al-Ani, Laith Khalil Tawfeeq; Somayeh, Dolatabadi; Stadler, Marc; Haelewaters, Danny; et al. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 11: 1060–1456. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8. hdl:11336/151990.
  3. ^ Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CAB International. p. 364. ISBN 978-0-85199-826-8.
  4. ^ Massalongo, A. (1853). Alcuni generi di licheni nuovamente limitati e descritti [Some genera of lichens newly limited and described] (in Italian). Italy, Verona: Antonelli. pp. 1–44.
  5. ^ a b c Cannon, P.; Ekman, S.; Kistenich, S.; LaGreca, S.; Printzen, C.; Timdal, E.; Aptroot, A.; Coppins, B.; Fletcher, A.; Sanderson, N.; Simkin, J. (2023). Lecanorales: Ramalinaceae [revision 1], including the genera Bacidia, Bacidina, Bellicidia, Biatora, Bibbya, Bilimbia, Cliostomum, Kiliasia, Lecania, Megalaria, Mycobilimbia, Phyllopsora, Ramalina, Scutula, Thalloidima, Toninia, Toniniopsis and Tylothallia (PDF). Revisions of British and Irish Lichens. Vol. 35. pp. 36–37.
  6. ^ "Lecania". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  7. ^ Knowles, M.C. (1913). "The maritime and marine lichens of Howth". Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society. 14: 79–143 [130].
  8. ^ van den Boom, P.P.G. (2016). "Lichens and lichenicolous fungi of the Azores (Portugal), collected on São Miguel and Terceira with the descriptions of seven new species". Acta Botanica Hungarica. 58 (1–2): 199–222. doi:10.1556/034.58.2016.1-2.11.
  9. ^ Reese Næsborg, Rikke; Van Den Boom, Pieter P.G. (2007). "Lecania belgica van den Boom & Reese Næsborg, a new saxicolous lichen species from western Europe". The Lichenologist. 39 (6): 499–503. Bibcode:2007ThLic..39..499R. doi:10.1017/S0024282907007244.
  10. ^ Kondratyuk, S.Y.; Lőkös, L.; Farkas, E.; Oh, S.-O.; Hur, J.-S. (2015). "New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi 3" (PDF). Acta Botanica Hungarica. 57 (3–4): 345–382. doi:10.1556/034.57.2015.3-4.7.
  11. ^ Müller, J. (1895). "Lecanoreae et Lecideae australienses novae". Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier (in Latin). 3: 632–642.
  12. ^ Kondratyuk, S.; Lőkös, L.; Tschabanenko, S.; Haji Moniri, M.; Farkas, E.; Wang, X.; Oh, S.-O.; Hur, J.-S. (2013). "New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi". Acta Botanica Hungarica. 55 (3–4): 275–349 [289]. doi:10.1556/ABot.55.2013.3-4.9.
  13. ^ Van den Boom, P.P.G.; Eyayo, J. (2017). "Further interesting lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Spain), with three new species and notes on Mixtoconidium". Ascomycete.org. 9 (4): 124–134.
  14. ^ Fryday, Alan M.; Coppins, Brian J. (2012). "New taxa, reports, and names of lichenized and lichenicolous fungi, mainly from the Scottish Highlands". The Lichenologist. 44 (6): 723–737. Bibcode:2012ThLic..44..723F. doi:10.1017/S0024282912000369.
  15. ^ a b Dodge, C.W. (1948). "Lichens and lichen parasites". British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition Scientific Reports. B. 7: 1–276.
  16. ^ Spribille, Toby; Fryday, Alan M.; Pérez-Ortega, Sergio; Svensson, Måns; Tønsberg, Tor; Ekman, Stefan; Holien, Håkon; Resl, Philipp; Schneider, Kevin; Stabentheiner, Edith; Thüs, Holger; Vondrák, Jan; Sharman, Lewis (2020). "Lichens and associated fungi from Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska". The Lichenologist. 52 (2): 61–181. Bibcode:2020ThLic..52...61S. doi:10.1017/S0024282920000079. PMC 7398404. PMID 32788812.
  17. ^ a b van den Boom, P.P.G.; Girault, M. (2012). "Checklist and three new species of lichens and lichenicolous fungi of the Algarve (Portugal)". Sydowia. 64 (2): 149–208.
  18. ^ van den Boom, P.P.G.; Alonso, F.L.; Egea, J.M. (1996). "Lecania poeltii, a new lichen species from Portugal and northern Africa". The Lichenologist. 28 (5): 395–399. Bibcode:1996ThLic..28..395V. doi:10.1006/lich.1996.0037.
  19. ^ Aptroot, André; Yazıcı, Kenan (2017). "Lecania sessilisoraliata, a new sorediate lichen species from limestone in Turkey". Phytotaxa. 328 (3): 298–300. Bibcode:2017Phytx.328..298A. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.328.3.9.
  20. ^ Fryday, Alan M. (2019). "Eleven new species of crustose lichenized fungi from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)". The Lichenologist. 51 (3): 235–267. Bibcode:2019ThLic..51..235F. doi:10.1017/S0024282919000185. S2CID 196649792.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.