Punctelia eganii
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Punctelia eganii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Parmeliaceae |
| Genus: | Punctelia |
| Species: | P. eganii |
| Binomial name | |
| Punctelia eganii B.P.Hodk. & Lendemer (2011) | |
Punctelia eganii is a rare species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.[1] It was described in 2011 from a single population found in a beech-magnolia forest along the Alabama River and was named in honor of American lichenologist Robert S. Egan. The lichen appears very similar to the common species Punctelia rudecta, but can be distinguished by tiny white pores that glow bright yellow under ultraviolet light due to the chemical compound lichexanthone, otherwise unknown to occur in the genus. It is known only from its original discovery site in coastal Alabama, where habitat destruction from agriculture and development may have reduced its range.
Punctelia eganii was described in 2011 by Brendan Hodkinson and James Lendemer after a single population was discovered in coastal plain Alabama. Morphologically it matches the widespread P. rudecta, but it synthesizes lichexanthone—a yellow fluorescent compound previously unknown in Punctelia—making it chemically distinct within the genus. The authors treated the chemical difference as evidence of a separate species rather than an infraspecific chemotype, noting that lichexanthone has not been detected in other Punctelia taxa and that chemical characters often track species boundaries in parmelioid lichens. The epithet honors the American lichenologist Robert S. Egan, who collected the type and recognized its unusual chemistry.[2]
