''Chrysothrix palaeophila'' is a rare species of corticolous (bark-dwelling)

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Chrysotrichaceae Chrysotrichaceae is a family of lichenized fungi in the order Arthoniales. Member of this family have a widespread distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical areas. "Chrysothrichaceae" and "Chrysothricaceae" are alternative spellings ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. The lichen grows in bark fissures that rarely have other lichens. It has an immersed

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 slightly bleaches the bark it grows on, and tiny apothecia (fruiting bodies) that are densely covered with yellow to yellow-green .

Taxonomy

''Chrysothrix palaeophila'' was formally described as a new species in 2007 by the lichenologists

Gintaras Kantvilas Gintaras Kantvilas (born 1956) is an Australian lichenologist, who earned his Ph.D in 1985 from the University of Tasmania with a thesis entitled ''Studies on Tasmanian rainforest lichens''. He has authored over 432 species names, and 167 gener ...

and John Alan Elix. 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 by the first author from Weindorfers Forest, near

Cradle Mountain Cradle Mountain is a locality and mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At above sea level, it is the sixth-highest mountai ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1988. The species epithet ''palaeophila'' refers to its preference for ancient (Greek, ''palaeos'') trees. It is closely related to '' C. chrysophthalma'', found in the

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

s of the Northern Hemisphere, but differs primarily in its chemical composition.

Description

The species is characterised by an (immersed) thallus, barely visible as a bleaching of the bark . It has a unicellular

green alga The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

l , with their spherical cells dispersed or aggregated in chains. The of the lichen are scattered, measuring 0.1–0.3 mm wide, convex to more or less spherical in shape, and typically densely covered with yellow to yellow-green . The are (spindle-shaped) to

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

, contain three

septa The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

, and measure 10–15 by 2.5–4

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

. ''Chrysothrix palaeophila'' contains

vulpinic acid Vulpinic acid is a natural product first found in and important in the symbiosis underlying the biology of lichens. It is a simple methyl ester derivative of its parent compound, pulvinic acid, and a close relative of pulvinone, both of which de ...

as a major secondary metabolite ( lichen product), along with pulvinic dilactone in minor or trace amounts.

Habitat and distribution

This species has a restricted distribution, known only from a few collections in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It is found in cool temperate

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

or wet eucalypt forest, predominantly on ancient

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s such as '' Lagarostrobos franklinii'' and '' Athrotaxis selaginoides'', as well as on '' Eucalyptus obliqua''. In 2012, ''Chrysothrix palaeophila'', described as "very rare", was known to occur in four locations. ''Chrysothrix palaeophila'' grows in fissures on dry, cracked wood and dry, fibrous bark, which are environments that are typically devoid of other lichens. This cryptic nature suggests it may have been overlooked in other locations. Its growth appears to be restricted to the trunks of ancient trees.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10452309 palaeophila Lichen species Lichens described in 2007 Lichens of Australia Taxa named by Gintaras Kantvilas Taxa named by John Alan Elix