Malmidea nigra
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| Malmidea nigra | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Malmideaceae |
| Genus: | Malmidea |
| Species: | M. nigra |
| Binomial name | |
| Malmidea nigra Aptroot & Oliveira-Junior (2022) | |
Malmidea nigra is a corticolous (bark-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Malmideaceae.[1] It forms small, dark patches on tree bark that are pale greenish only at the edges and otherwise almost entirely black, resting on a distinct black base layer. The species is characterized by very small, somewhat diamond-shaped ascospores, and by the absence of detectable lichen substances; it is instead identified using microscopic features and DNA sequence data. It was formally described in 2022 from material collected in the Reserva Cristalino region of Mato Grosso. It has also been recorded from neighbouring Amazonas.
Malmidea nigra was described in 2022 by André Aptroot and G. Oliveira-Junior from material collected on tree bark in primary rainforest in the Reserva Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil, at an elevation of 250–350 m (820–1,150 ft). The holotype (A. Aptroot 83047) is deposited in the herbarium of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (CGMS). In the global identification key to Malmidea, it falls in the couplet for species whose thallus begins as tiny fragments on top of a black hypothallus, green only at the margin but almost black over most of its surface. It was compared with Phyllopsora because the ascospores are somewhat rhomboid, but the combination of thallus morphology and ascomatal features, together with DNA sequence data that place it within Malmidea, support recognizing it as a distinct species in that genus.[2]