Physcidia striata is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), microfoliose lichen in the family Ramalinaceae.[1] Found in South America, it was formally described as a new species in 2014 by lichenologists André Aptroot, Marcela Cáceres, and Einar Timdal. The type specimen was collected by the first two authors from the Estação Ecológica de Cuniã [pt] (Rondônia), where it was found growing on the smooth bark of a tree in a primary rainforest. It also occurs in Peru. The thallus of the lichen is a loose mat of squamules (scales) without a hypothallus. Its lobes are smooth, flat, branched, and greyish-green, measuring 2–7 mm long by 0.5–1.5 mm wide. The species epithet striata refers to the faint longitudinal striations that are present on the lobe undersides. Isidia occur on the thallus surface; they are the same colour as the thallus, with dimensions of 0.3–0.7 mm long by 0.1–0.2 mm wide. When they are abraded, it reveals the whitish colour of the underlying medulla. The lichen contains divaricatic acid, a lichen product that is revealed with the use of thin-layer chromatography.[2]

Physcidia striata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Ramalinaceae
Genus: Physcidia
Species:
P. striata
Binomial name
Physcidia striata
Aptroot, M.Cáceres & Timdal (2014)

References

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  1. ^ "Physcidia striata Aptroot, M. Cáceres & Timdal". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  2. ^ Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2014). "A key to the corticolous microfoliose, foliose and related crustose lichens from Rondônia, Brazil, with the description of four new species". The Lichenologist. 46 (6): 783–799. doi:10.1017/S0024282914000358.