''Follmannia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

in the family

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family, estimated to contain over 1800 species, was extensively revised in 2013, including the creation o ...

. It has three species. All three species are

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

s, and all occur in South America.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

in 1967 by Carroll William Dodge, with the Chilean '' Follmannia rufa'' assigned as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. ''Follmannia'' is in the subfamily Teloschistoideae of the family

Description

The

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 ...

of ''Follmannia'' has a

crustose Crustose is a habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the substrates at all points. ''Crustose'' is found on rocks and ...

growth form characterized by well-developed, elongated, predominantly narrow, and slightly raised . These lobes often have a subtle shine. The cortex, the outer layer of the lichen's body, is complex, composed of intricately arranged cells, and is accompanied by a thick . The medulla, the innermost part of the thallus, is densely packed. The reproductive structures, known as apothecia, have a distinctive appearance. They are in form and feature intricately arranged prosoplectenchymatous tissue in the form of a thick . Within these apothecia, spores are present, characterized as

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 ...

in shape and having a structure. These spores are relatively small and contain short to medium

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 ...

, or partitions. , which are specialized structures responsible for

asexual reproduction Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...

, are not commonly found in this lichen. When present, they are slightly protruding from the thallus. Within these pycnidia, conidia, or elongated rod-shaped spore-like structures, are present. Fragilin is the only lichen product known to occur in the genus.

Species

, Species Fungorum (in the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic Info ...

) accepts three species of ''Follmania'': * '' Follmannia orthoclada'' – Chile * '' Follmannia rufa'' – Chile * '' Follmannia suborthoclada'' - Chile Arup and colleagues suggest that ''Follmannia rufa'' is a taxonomic

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''F. orthoclada''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q26202435 Teloschistales Teloschistales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1967 Taxa named by Carroll William Dodge