Cliostomum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cliostomum | |
|---|---|
_-_Nieuw_Leeuwenhorst,_Noordwijkerhout,_NL_v2.jpg) | |
| Cliostomum griffithii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ramalinaceae |
| Genus: | Cliostomum Fr. (1825) |
| Type species | |
| Cliostomum corrugatum (Ach.) Fr. (1845) | |
Cliostomum is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae.[1] It has about 20 species.[2] The genus was established in 1825 by Elias Magnus Fries, who characterized it by its rounded fruiting bodies that are integrated into the lichen's crust with distinctive folded or corrugated openings. These lichens form tight crusts on various surfaces, ranging in colour from whitish to pale grey or yellowish, and reproduce primarily through conspicuous flask-shaped structures that release spores rather than through sexual fruiting bodies.
The genus was circumscribed by Elias Magnus Fries in 1825, with Cliostomum corrugatum assigned as the type species. In his original description, Fries characterized Cliostomum as having rounded perithecia that are integrated into the thallus, with multiple transverse folds or pleats that cause the ostiole to gape open. He noted that the subiculum (underlying fungal tissue) is absent, and placed the genus as the first tribe of Rhytisma in the second volume of his Systema Mycologicum. Fries distinguished the genus from Graphis, noting that while the latter has distinct, elongated perithecia, Cliostomum species are characterized by their rounded, integrated fruiting bodies and the distinctive folded or corrugated appearance that gives the ostiole its gaping characteristic. He also noted that the genus appears to lack external sterile tissues that are often present in related lichens.[3]
