Endocarpon deserticola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Endocarpon deserticola | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Eurotiomycetes |
| Order: | Verrucariales |
| Family: | Verrucariaceae |
| Genus: | Endocarpon |
| Species: | E. deserticola |
| Binomial name | |
| Endocarpon deserticola T.Zhang, X.L.Wei & J.C.Wei (2017) | |
Endocarpon deserticola is a species of squamulose lichen in the family Verrucariaceae.[1] This small, scale-like lichen was scientifically described in 2017 from specimens found in the desert environment of China's Tengger Desert, where it grows on sandy soil crusts. The species is characterised by having exceptionally numerous fruiting bodies densely packed across its surface—often 50 or more per scale. It plays an ecological role by helping to stabilise loose desert sands with its root-like structures.
Endocarpon deserticola was described in 2017 by Tao Zhang, Xin-Li Wei and Jiang-Chun Wei as one of two new Endocarpon species from the south-eastern edge of the Tengger Desert (Ningxia, China). The name means 'desert-dweller' (Latin desertum + -cola). The holotype was collected from biological soil crust on calcareous sand in the Shapotou experimental zone and is housed at HMAS (Herbarium Mycologicum Academiae Sinicae; lichen collection, HMAS-L). In a three-gene molecular analysis (nrITS plus two newly developed protein-coding markers, ADK and UCEH), the species formed a well-supported lineage within Endocarpon, distinct from the other sampled taxa. The authors emphasised that ADK and UCEH provided useful additional signal for species-level delimitation in the genus. The species is most easily separated phenotypically from the Australian E. helmsianum: E. deserticola has much narrower squamules and far smaller spores, but carries strikingly abundant perithecia scattered across nearly every squamule (often 15–60, sometimes 100+ per squamule).[2]