Pannaria
Genus of lichen-forming fungi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pannaria is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pannariaceae.[2] These lichens form leaf-like, scaly, or crusty patches that typically arrange themselves in loose rosettes on tree bark in humid forests. Most species partner with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, though some contain green algae instead. The genus was established in 1828 and now includes about 80 recognized species found worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions.
| Pannaria | |
|---|---|
| Pannaria conoplea | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Peltigerales |
| Family: | Pannariaceae |
| Genus: | Pannaria Delise ex Bory (1828) |
| Type species | |
| Pannaria rubiginosa (Thunb.) Delise (1828) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Description
Pannaria forms a thallus that can be leaf-like (foliose), a mosaic of tiny scales (squamulose), or a thin crust (crustose). Many species arrange their lobes in loose rosettes and, unlike several related genera, they rarely develop the blue-black felt (hypothallus) seen beneath other cyanobacterial lichens. The upper surface ranges from grey-blue to deep brown-black and may carry a light dusting of frost-like crystals (pruina). Most species partner with the filamentous cyanobacterium Nostoc, but members of the Pannaria sphinctrina group instead contain green algal cells.[3]
The lichen's sexual fruiting bodies are sessile apothecia whose red-brown to black discs are framed by a persistent rim of thallus tissue. That rim has two zones: an outer layer of tightly packed, brick-like cells and an inner layer that is looser and packed with photobiont cells. A thin, pale exciple of pseudoparenchymatous cells surrounds the hymenium. The asci hold eight ascospores, show no blue reaction to potassium–iodide stain (K/I–) and lack the amyloid plug found in many related taxa. Their spores are colourless, single-celled, ellipsoidal and often end in one or two small points; the outer wall is finely warted or ridged.[3]
Asexual reproduction is limited to scattered pycnidia that release straight, rod-shaped conidia. Thin-layer chromatography usually detects no secondary metabolites, though some species contain pannarin, which produces an orange-red colour with the para-phenylenediamine (Pd) spot test.[3]
Photobiont
Like most members of the Pannariaceae, species of Pannaria partner with filamentous, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Nostoc. A multilocus survey of 37 thalli representing 21 species showed that these cyanobionts are drawn from two broad Nostoc lineages previously known as the "Nephroma guild" and the "Peltigera guild"; the Pannaria sequences are scattered across both, with a gradual transition between them.[4]
Host choice is flexible. Bipartite (cyanobacteria-only) and tripartite (cyanobacteria plus green-algal) species do not segregate cleanly by photobiont: some tripartite southern-hemisphere taxa share identical Nostoc strains with corticolous (bark-dwelling) bipartite species from both hemispheres, whereas other Pannaria species show marked selectivity, keeping to a narrow subset of strains. This breadth of associations contrasts with the tighter photobiont fidelity reported for genera such as Nephroma and Peltigera.[4]
Ecology
Species

As of July 2025[update], Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accept 78 species of Pannaria:[5]
- Pannaria adpressa Zahlbr. (1930)
- Pannaria aenea Müll.Arg. (1896)[6]
- Pannaria andina P.M.Jørg. & Sipman (2004)[7]
- Pannaria allorhiza (Nyl.) Elvebakk & D.J.Galloway (2003)
- Pannaria aotearoana Elvebakk & Elix (2016)[8]
- Pannaria applanata Eckfeldt (1894)[9]
- Pannaria areolata Delise (1828)
- Pannaria asahinae P.M.Jørg. (2001)[10]
- Pannaria athroophylla (Stirt.) Elvebakk & D.J.Galloway (2003)
- Pannaria atrofumosa C.Knight (1880)
- Pannaria auctorum Bory (1828)
- Pannaria brasiliensis Zahlbr. (1909)
- Pannaria byssoidea Passo & Calvelo (2011)[11]
- Pannaria caesiocinerea (Vain.) P.M.Jørg. (2004)
- Pannaria caespitosa P.M.Jørg. (2000)[12]
- Pannaria calophylla (Müll.Arg.) Passo & Calvelo (2006)[13]
- Pannaria cameroonensis C.W.Dodge (1964)
- Pannaria carneopallens Vain. (1921)
- Pannaria cassa Elvebakk (2022)
- Pannaria centrifuga P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria cheirolepis F.Wilson (1889)
- Pannaria chilensis Fée (1852)
- Pannaria cinerascens (Nyl.) P.M.Jørg. (2004)
- Pannaria complanata P.M.Jørg. (2001)[15]
- Pannaria conoplea (Ach.) Bory (1828)
- Pannaria contorta (Müll.Arg.) Passo & Calvelo (2006)[13]
- Pannaria craspedia Körb. (1859)
- Pannaria crenulata P.M.Jørg. (1983)[16]
- Pannaria crispella (Nyl.) Elvebakk (2022)
- Pannaria crustata Stirt. (1873)[17]
- Pannaria decipiens P.M.Jørg. & D.J.Galloway (1992)
- Pannaria delicata P.M.Jørg. & D.J.Galloway (1999)[18]
- Pannaria delisei Bory (1838)
- Pannaria dissecta P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria durietzii (P.James & Henssen) Elvebakk & D.J.Galloway (2003)
- Pannaria ekistophylla Colmeiro (1867)
- Pannaria elatior Stirt. (1899)
- Pannaria elegantior P.M.Jørg. (2003)[19]
- Pannaria elixii P.M.Jørg. & D.J.Galloway (1992)
- Pannaria emodii P.M.Jørg. (2001)[15]
- Pannaria euphylla (Nyl.) Elvebakk & D.J.Galloway (2003)
- Pannaria exasperata H.Magn. (1944)
- Pannaria farinosa Elvebakk & Fritt-Rasm. (2007)[20]
- Pannaria fimbriata P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria flabellata P.M.Jørg. (2012)[21]
- Pannaria formosana P.M.Jørg. (2001)[15]
- Pannaria fulvescens (Mont.) Nyl. (1857)
- Pannaria fumbris Kremp. (1874)
- Pannaria funebris Kremp. (1874)
- Pannaria gallowayi Elvebakk & Elix (2016)[8]
- Pannaria glacialis Anzi (1860)
- Pannaria granulifera Müll.Arg. (1896)
- Pannaria globigera Hue (1909)
- Pannaria holospoda Nyl. (1888)
- Pannaria hookeri (Borrer) Nyl. (1857)
- Pannaria howeana Elvebakk (2012)[22]
- Pannaria hypnorum (Vahl) Körb. (1855)
- Pannaria immixta Nyl. (1867)[23]
- Pannaria implexa (Stirt.) Passo, Calvelo & S.Stenroos (2008)
- Pannaria insularis P.M.Jørg. & Kashiw. (2001)[10]
- Pannaria isidiosa Elvebakk & Elix (2006)[24]
- Pannaria italica Gyeln. (1940)
- Pannaria japonica Räsänen (1940)
- Pannaria kantvilasii Elvebakk (2022)
- Pannaria kerguelensis C.W.Dodge (1966)
- Pannaria laciniata Zahlbr. (1941)
- Pannaria laciniosa Hue (1902)
- Pannaria lanuginosa (Hoffm.) Szatala (1930)
- Pannaria lasiella Stirt. (1878)
- Pannaria lepidophora Vain. (1921)
- Pannaria leproloma (Nyl.) P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria limbata Vain. (1921)
- Pannaria lobulifera Elvebakk (2007)[25]
- Pannaria lurida (Mont.) Nyl. (1857)
- Pannaria luridula Nyl. (1876)
- Pannaria macrocarpa Müll.Arg. (1892)
- Pannaria malmei C.W.Dodge (1933)
- Pannaria mangroviana P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria melanesica Elvebakk (2020)
- Pannaria melanotricha Müll.Arg. (1885)
- Pannaria microphyllizans (Nyl.) P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria minutiphylla Elvebakk (2013)[26]
- Pannaria molkenboeri (Mont. & Bosch) Hue (1902)
- Pannaria molybdodes F.Wilson (1889)
- Pannaria mosenii C.W.Dodge (1933)
- Pannaria multifida P.M.Jørg. (2004)
- Pannaria myrioloba Müll.Arg. (1896)
- Pannaria neocaledonica B.de Lesd. (1910)
- Pannaria nilgherriensis P.M.Jørg. & Upreti (2003)
- Pannaria obscura Müll.Arg. (1895)
- Pannaria oregonensis McCune & M.Schultz (2022)[27]
- Pannaria pannosa (Sw.) Nyl. (1855)
- Pannaria papuana (Aptroot & Diederich) P.M.Jørg. & Sipman (2006)
- Pannaria parmeliae F.Wilson (1889)
- Pannaria patagonica (Malme) Elvebakk & D.J.Galloway (2003)
- Pannaria perfossa Stirt. (1875)
- Pannaria phloeodes Stirt. (1877)
- Pannaria phyllidiata Elvebakk (2011)
- Pannaria placodioides Nyl. ex Cromb. (1875)
- Pannaria placodiopsis Nyl. (1875)
- Pannaria planiuscula P.M.Jørg. (2003)[28]
- Pannaria prolifera Müll.Arg. (1882)
- Pannaria prolificans Vain. (1896)
- Pannaria pruinosa P.M.Jørg. & Timdal (2004)[29]
- Pannaria pulverulacea Elvebakk (2013)[26]
- Pannaria pulvinula P.M.Jørg. (2000)[12]
- Pannaria pyxinoides (Nyl.) Elvebakk (2018)
- Pannaria ramosii Vain. (1921)[30]
- Pannaria ramulosa P.M.Jørg. (2001)[15]
- Pannaria reflectens (Nyl.) P.M.Jørg. (2010)
- Pannaria rolfii Elvebakk (2012)[31]
- Pannaria romanoana Hue (1915)
- Pannaria rubiginea Nyl. (1859)
- Pannaria rubiginella P.M.Jørg. & Sipman (2004)[7]
- Pannaria rubiginosa (Thunb. ex Ach.) Delise (1828)
- Pannaria squamulosa P.M.Jørg. (2003)[28]
- Pannaria streimannii Elvebakk (2012)[22]
- Pannaria subcrustacea (Räsänen) P.M.Jørg. (2001)[14]
- Pannaria subfusca P.M.Jørg. (2000)[32]
- Pannaria subrubiginosa Brodo & McMullin (2025)[33]
- Pannaria subsimilis C.Knight (1880)
- Pannaria superior Nyl. (1868)
- Pannaria taylorii Tuck. (1875)
- Pannaria tavaresii P.M.Jørg. (1978)[34]
- Pannaria tenuis P.M.Jørg. & Sipman (2006)
- Pannaria tetraspora Maheu & A.Gillet (1926)
- Pannaria thoroldii C.W.Dodge (1964)
- Pannaria thraustolepis F.Wilson (1889)
- Pannaria tjibodensis Zahlbr. (1928)[35]
- Pannaria vischii C.W.Dodge (1971)
- Pannaria wrightiorum Elvebakk (2022)