''Bapalmuia serusiauxiana'' is a species of

foliicolous lichen A foliicolous lichenized fungi is a lichen which grows on the surfaces of living leaves of vascular plants, usually inhabiting the upper surface (epiphyllous) but sometimes also the lower surface (hypophyllous). Foliicolous lichens largely occur in ...

in the family

Pilocarpaceae The Pilocarpaceae are a family of crustose lichens in the order Lecanorales. The species of this family have a cosmopolitan distribution and have been found in a variety of climatic regions. Pilocarpaceae was circumscribed by Alexander Zahlbruck ...

. Found in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, it was described as a new species in 2014 by Dries Van den Broeck,

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist. He is a leading expert on foliicolous lichens–lichens that live on leaves. Life and career Born in Ulm in 1964, Lücking earned both his master's (1990) and PhD degree (1994) at the Univer ...

, and Damien Ertz. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

was collected in Mbangi, about upstream of

Lisala Lisala is the capital of the Mongala Province in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo River flows through the city. Its Cathédrale Saint-Hermès is the cathedral episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lisala. It is ...

, on the left bank of the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

. There, it was found growing on leaves in an old

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

honours Belgian lichenologist

Emmanuël Sérusiaux Emmanuël Sérusiaux (born 3 October 1953) is a Belgian lichenologist. His career, spanning more than four decades, has combined both lichenology research and political aspects of nature conservation. He spent several periods working as a res ...

, "an outstanding figure in foliicolous lichen research, especially in tropical Africa".

References

Pilocarpaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 2014 Lichens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Taxa named by Robert Lücking {{Lecanorales-stub