Dirina fallax

Dirina fallax
	in France
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Arthoniomycetes
Order:	Arthoniales
Family:	Roccellaceae
Genus:	Dirina
Species:	D. fallax
Binomial name
	Dirina fallax; De Not. (1846)

Dirina fallax is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Roccellaceae. It is found in the western Mediterranean, the Atlantic coasts of both Africa and Europe (extending from Scotland to Morocco), and central Europe, where it grows on siliceous and acidic rocks. In 2017, it was reported from the Abrau Peninsula in Russia.^[1]

Taxonomy

The lichen was first described scientifically by Giuseppe De Notaris in 1846, from specimens collected in Sardinia, Italy.^[2] Tehler and colleagues unsuccessfully searched Italian herbaria for the type specimen, and therefore assigned a neotype from a specimen also collected in Sardinia.^[3]

Description

The lichen has a creamy greyish-brown, crustose thallus with a somewhat roughened surface (0.1–1.5 mm thick), and a white, chalk-like medulla. When soralia are present (typically when apothecia are absent), they are punctiform to maculate. If apothecia are present, they have a circular outline and a diameter of 0.1–2.0 mm; the apothecial disc is white-grey, pruinose, and encircled by a thalline margin. Ascospores measure 18–24 by 5–6 μm. Dirina fallax contains the lichen products erythrin and lecanoric acid, as well as two unidentified substances. The expected results of chemical spot tests are C+ (faint red) on the thallus surface, C− on the medulla, and C+ (red) on the disc.^[3]

References

^ Urbanavichus, G.; Urbanavichene, I. (2017). "New and noteworthy records of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi from Abrau Peninsula (NW Caucasus, Russia)". Flora Mediterranea. 27: 175–184. doi:10.7320/flmedit27.175.
^ De Notaris, G. (1846). "Frammenti lichenografici di un lavoro inedito". Giornale Botanico Italiano (in Italian). 2 (1): 174–224 [189].
^ ^a ^b Tehler, Anders; Ertz, Damien; Irestedt, Martin (2013). "The genus Dirina (Roccellaceae, Arthoniales) revisited". The Lichenologist. 45 (4): 427–476. doi:10.1017/s0024282913000121. S2CID 85670716.

[Urbanavichus_&_Urbanavichene_2017-1] Urbanavichus, G.; Urbanavichene, I. (2017). "New and noteworthy records of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi from Abrau Peninsula (NW Caucasus, Russia)". Flora Mediterranea. 27: 175–184. doi:10.7320/flmedit27.175.

[De_Notaris_1846-2] De Notaris, G. (1846). "Frammenti lichenografici di un lavoro inedito". Giornale Botanico Italiano (in Italian). 2 (1): 174–224 [189].

[Tehler_et_al._2013-3] Tehler, Anders; Ertz, Damien; Irestedt, Martin (2013). "The genus Dirina (Roccellaceae, Arthoniales) revisited". The Lichenologist. 45 (4): 427–476. doi:10.1017/s0024282913000121. S2CID 85670716.

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