Verrucoplaca
Species of lichen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Verrucoplaca is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae.[2] It contains the single species Verrucoplaca verruculifera, a widely distributed saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen that grows on coastal rocks.
| Verrucoplaca | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Teloschistales |
| Family: | Teloschistaceae |
| Genus: | Verrucoplaca S.Y.Kondr., Kärnefelt, Elix, A.Thell & Hur (2014) |
| Species: | V. verruculifera |
| Binomial name | |
| Verrucoplaca verruculifera (Vain.) S.Y.Kondr., Kärnefelt, Elix, A.Thell, Jung Kim, M.H.Jeong, N.N.Yu, A.S.Kondr. & Hur (2014) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Taxonomy
The genus Verrucoplaca was circumscribed in 2014 by the lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk, Ingvar Kärnefelt, John Alan Elix, Arne Thell, and Jae-Seoun Hur, following a molecular phylogenetics-led restructuring of the subfamily Xanthorioideae.[3] The type species was originally described in 1905 by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio as a species of Placodium,[4] and it was later proposed for inclusion in the genera Caloplaca, Gasparrinia, and Polycauliona.[1]
Description
Verrucoplaca is characterized by a thallus with a rosette-like structure with lobes. It contains secondary chemical compounds known as anthraquinones. Its cortical layer, which is the protective outer layer, is structured in a palisade plectenchymatous manner. The apothecia are of the zeorine type. Within the apothecia, the layer beneath the spore-producing surface, known as the subhymenium, is dotted with oil droplets. Verrucoplaca has a distinctive true exciple, a protective rim around the apothecia. The lichen produces conidia (asexual spores) that are narrowly oval in shape. A primary distinguishing chemical component of this genus are the anthraquinones associated with the parietin chemosyndrome.[3]
Habitat and distribution
Verrucoplaca verruculifera is a widely distributed, strictly coastal species, typically found in littoral zones. It has a more or less circumpolar distribution in the Arctic, but also extends into boreal and temperate regions of Europe, the Russian Far East, Asia, and both coasts of North America.[5]