Hypotrachyna brueggeri
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| Hypotrachyna brueggeri | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Parmeliaceae |
| Genus: | Hypotrachyna |
| Species: | H. brueggeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Hypotrachyna brueggeri C.H.Ribeiro & Marcelli (2002) | |
Hypotrachyna brueggeri is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.[1] Described as a new species in 2002, it is known only from the type locality in southeastern Brazil, where it was collected at elevations of 1,000–1,400 m (3,300–4,600 ft).[2] This lichen forms sprawling rosettes 10–15 cm across with broad, overlapping lobes and is distinguished by distinctive branched pustules that give its surface a rough texture. It grows on both tree bark and granite rocks in the moist montane forests of the Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar mountain systems, where persistent fog provides the humid conditions it requires.
Hypotrachyna brueggeri was introduced to science in 2002 by C.H. Ribeiro and M.P. Marcelli during their systematic survey of parmelioid lichens in south-eastern Brazil. The type specimen was collected in montane Atlantic Forest at Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca (Minas Gerais) from the trunk of a candeia (Eremanthus erythropappus) in a well-lit patch of forest on 19 March 1994. The authors placed the species in the large foliose genus Hypotrachyna (family Parmeliaceae), which is typified by a black-rimmed lower surface and a suite of secondary metabolites. The species epithet commemorates the Brazilian botanist Márcio Caetano Brüegger, whose work helped protect and document the flora of Ibitipoca.[3]
Chemically, H. brueggeri is defined by a cortical layer rich in atranorin and a medulla that contains protocetraric acid alongside several unidentified compounds. Spot tests produce a K+ (yellow) reaction in the cortex, while the medulla is P+ (yellow) but otherwise unresponsive; neither cortex nor medulla fluoresce under ultraviolet light. This chemical fingerprint, together with the presence of distinctive isidioid pustules (see below), separates the taxon from superficially similar species such as H. dactylifera and H. consimilis.[3]