Astrothelium ultralucens
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| Astrothelium ultralucens | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Dothideomycetes |
| Order: | Trypetheliales |
| Family: | Trypetheliaceae |
| Genus: | Astrothelium |
| Species: | A. ultralucens |
| Binomial name | |
| Astrothelium ultralucens Aptroot (2016) | |
Astrothelium ultralucens is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Trypetheliaceae. Found in Venezuela, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by André Aptroot. The type specimen was collected by Harrie Sipman along the Carapo River (Cerro Guaiquinima, Bolivar) at an elevation of 800 m (2,600 ft). The lichen has a smooth, somewhat shiny pale greenish grey thallus that covers an area of up to 7 cm (2.8 in). Its ascospores are hyaline, spindle-shaped (fusiform) with three septa and dimensions of 105–130 by 35–42 μm. Astrothelium ultralucens contains lichexanthone, a lichen product that causes the pseudostromata and the thallus to fluoresce yellow when lit with a long-wavelength UV light, although the thallus only weakly.[1]