Astrothelium quintosulphureum
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| Astrothelium quintosulphureum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Trypetheliales |
| Family: | Trypetheliaceae |
| Genus: | Astrothelium |
| Species: | A. quintosulphureum |
| Binomial name | |
| Astrothelium quintosulphureum Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2022) | |
 Holotype: Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve, Brazil | |
Astrothelium quintosulphureum is a corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae.[1] Described in 2022 from specimens collected in primary rainforest near Manaus (Brazil), this species is distinguished by its internal yellow pigment and ascospores divided into five segments. It forms glossy, olive-green patches on tree bark, with clusters of fruiting bodies embedded in raised structures that turn blood red when treated with potassium hydroxide solution. Known only from the Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve in the central Amazon, it grows on tree trunks in lowland rainforest.
Astrothelium quintosulphureum was described in 2022 by André Aptroot and Marcelo Cáceres from material collected on tree bark in primary rainforest in the Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve near Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, at an elevation of about 50 m (160 ft). The holotype (specimen M.E.S. Cáceres 50699 & A. Aptroot) is deposited in the herbarium of the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA 284620). The species is characterized within Astrothelium by having fruiting bodies (ascomata) clustered in raised structures (pseudostromata), an inner tissue layer (medulla) with a yellow pigment, and spores divided into five segments with diamond-shaped compartments (lumina) between the dividing walls; it keys out in the world treatment of the genus in a couplet defined by those characters. The specific epithet quintosulphureum refers to the combination of 5-septate ascospores and the yellow, sulfur-colored pigment in the medulla.[2]