Biology:Calopadia editiae

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Short description: Species of lichen-forming fungus

Calopadia editiae
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Pilocarpaceae
Genus: Calopadia
Species:
C. editiae
Binomial name
Calopadia editiae
Vèzda ex Chaves & Lücking (2011)

Calopadia editiae[note 1] is a species of lichen in the family Pilocarpaceae.[3] It is found in Tanzania, with a distribution that extends to Costa Rica and the Galápagos Islands. It can be found on leaves or bark and is characterised by its pale grey to brownish grey colour, rounded apothecia and distinctive pruina. Described as new to science in 2011, the species was named in honour of Hungarian lichenologist Edit Farkas.

Taxonomy

The first scientific collections of Calopadia editiae were made by Hungarian lichenologist Edit Farkas in 1989. She discovered the lichen in Tanzania, specifically in the Morogoro Region, on the south-eastern slope of Mount Kanga at an elevation between 850 and 1,200 m (2,790 and 3,940 ft). Antonín Vězda intended to dedicate the species to her but was unable to do so before his death in 2008. José Luis Chaves and Robert Lücking used Vězda's original name and validly published the species in 2011.[1]

Description

Calopadia editiae is a foliicolous or corticolous lichen, meaning that it grows on leaves or bark. The thallus, or vegetative body of the lichen, is continuous or dispersed into rounded, confluent patches up to 50 mm across and 20–40 μm thick. Its colour ranges from pale grey to brownish grey, and the surface is smooth and lacks a cortex. The apothecia, or fruiting bodies, are rounded, 0.5–1 mm in diameter and 250–350 μm high, with a light brown disc that is initially flat but becomes convex as the apothecium matures. The disc is covered with a thick, pale yellowish to cream-coloured pruina, which is a powdery substance found on the surface of some lichens. The ascospores are oblong to ellipsoid, muriform, colourless, and measure 50–80 by 20–30 μm.[1]

Calopadia editiae is similar in appearance to Calopadia perpallida, another pantropical lichen species. However, Calopadia editiae can be distinguished by its shorter ascospores, which typically measure 50–80 by 20–30 μm, as opposed to the longer ascospores of Calopadia perpallida that mostly exceed 100 μm in length.[1] Calopadia saxicola is another species with pruinose apothecia and muriform ascospores, but its asci typically contain 2 or 3 spores, and it has a whitish (rather than yellowish) pruina on its apothecia.[4]

Habitat and distribution

Calopadia editiae has a wide tropical distribution and has been found in collections from Tanzania, Costa Rica, and the Galápagos Islands. It grows on leaves or bark and is typically found in more or less exposed microsites at low to mid elevations.[1]

Notes

  1. Originally spelled Calopadia editae,[1] but later corrected to editiae.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lumbsch, H.T.; Ahti, T.; Altermann, S.; De Paz, G.A.; Aptroot, A.; Arup, U. et al. (2011). "One hundred new species of lichenized fungi: a signature of undiscovered global diversity". Phytotaxa 18 (1): 27–28. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.18.1.1. http://www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2011/f/p00018p127f.pdf. 
  2. "Record Details: Calopadia editiae Vězda ex Chaves & Lücking [as 'editae', in Lumbsch et al., Phytotaxa 18: 27 (2011)"]. Index Fungorum. https://www.indexfungorum.org/names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=585206. 
  3. "Calopadia editiae Vězda ex Chaves & Lücking". Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/677YQ. 
  4. Gumboski, Emerson Luiz (2015). "Calopadia saxicola (Pilocarpaceae, Ascomycota), a new saxicolous species growing on rocky seashores in southern Brazil". The Lichenologist 47 (2): 137–141. doi:10.1017/s0024282914000619. 

Wikidata ☰ Q107539017 entry