''Canoparmelia cassa'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

foliose lichen Foliose lichen is one of the morphological classes of lichens, which are complex organisms that arise from the symbiotic relationship between fungi and a photosynthetic partner, typically algae. This partnership allows lichen to live in diverse ...

in the family

Parmeliaceae The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2700 species in 71 genera, it is the largest family of lichen-forming fungi. The most speciose genera in the family are the well-known groups: '' Xanthoparmelia'' ( 822 ...

.Marcelli, M. P., and Celio Henrique Ribeiro. "Twenty-one new species of Parmeliaceae (lichenized fungi) from southeastern Brazil." Mitt. Inst. Allg. Bot. Hamburg 30.32 (2002): 125-155. This species is characteristic by the occurrence of

isidia An isidium is a vegetative reproductive structure present in some lichens. Isidia are outgrowths of the thallus surface, and are corticated (i.e., containing the outermost layer of the thallus), usually with a columnar structure, and consisting o ...

together with

fatty acid In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, fr ...

s. It is similar externally to '' Canoparmelia amazonica''. Its

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

''cassa'' is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''cassus'', meaning "devoid", due to this species' lack of medullar reactive substances.

Description

It possesses a whitish-green

thallus Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...

that measures wide, its lobes measuring between wide. Its surface is continuous, laterally overlapping and

adnate Adnate may refer to: * Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower * Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills) * Conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are ...

, being dichotomously ramified. The species' axillary sinus is oval, it counts with rounded apices, and a black-lined margin with no

cilia The cilium, plural cilia (), is a membrane-bound organelle found on most types of eukaryotic cell, and certain microorganisms known as ciliates. Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea. The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike projecti ...

. It shows no lacinules while possessing laminal maculae. Its isidia are also laminal and cylindrical, being between 0.2 and 0.6 mm high. Its medulla is white, while its underside possesses a rugose, veined and

papillate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

margin. Its central surface is black and also papillate. Its rhizines are dimorphic, measuring between long, being coloured black and with a frequent distribution. Apothecia and pycnidia are absent in ''Canoparmelia cassa''.

Habitat

This species was first found in the Parque Natural do Caraça, in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, at an altitude of on a tree in a light forest.

Description

Habitat

References

Further reading