''Heppia'' is a genus of olive, brownish, gray, or blackish
squamulose
A squamulose lichen is a lichen that is composed of small, often overlapping "scales" called squamules. If they are raised from the substrate and appear leafy, the lichen may appear to be a foliose lichen, but the underside does not have a "skin ...
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. /ref> ''Heppia'' was once the type genus of the family Heppiaceae, but that family was folded into synonymy with
Lichinaceae
The Lichinaceae are a family of ascomycete fungi. Most species are lichenized with cyanobacteria, and have a distribution largely in temperate regions.
Taxonomy
The family was circumscribed in 1854 by Finnish lichenologist William Nylander. H ...
.
The genus name of ''Heppiella'' is in honour of
Johann Adam Philipp Hepp Johann Adam Philipp Hepp (26 October 1797, in Kaiserslautern – 5 February 1867, in Frankfurt am Main) was a German physician and lichenologist.
He studied medicine at the University of Würzburg, and from 1826 worked as a doctor in Neustadt ...
(1797–1867), a German physician and lichenologist.
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 ...
by
Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
*Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of tel ...
and
Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo
Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo (13 May 1824 – 25 May 1860) was an Italian paleobotanist and lichenologist. He was born in Tregnago in the Province of Verona and took a great interest in botany as a young man. Massalongo joined the faculty of med ...
in Geneac. Lich. (Verona) 7-8 in 1854.
Description
''Heppia'' species grow on rock or soil in arid sites around the world, in habitats similar to those favored by ''
Peltula
''Peltula'' is a genus of small dark brown to olive or dark gray squamulose lichens that can be saxicolous (grow on rock)) or terricolous (grow on soil). Members of the genus are commonly called rock-olive lichens.Field Guide to California Lichen ...
'', which is similar but has a different cyanobacterium as the photobiont. It lacks a medulla that is separate from the photobiont layer. It is a cyanolichen with the photobiont cyanobacterium being '' Syctonema'' (or ''Syctonema''-like). The lower surface is paler than upper surface, and has numerous rhizoidal hyphae attaching it to the
substrate
Substrate may refer to:
Physical layers
*Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached
** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...
. The fruiting structures ( ascomata) are apothecias immersed in the thallus with red to red-brown urn shaped (
urceolate
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 ...
) to flat or slightly convex discs. An exciple may or may not be present.
Species
* ''
Heppia adglutinata
''Heppia'' is a genus of olive, brownish, gray, or blackish squamulose, crustose, or peltate like lichens.Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 1, Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001/ref> ''Heppia'' was on ...
''
* ''
Heppia arenacea
''Heppia arenacea'' is a species of terricolous lichen, terricolous (ground-dwelling) lichen in the family Lichinaceae. Discovered in Yemen, it is characterized by its sand-coloured thallus and the incorporation of soil particles throughout its ...
''
* ''
Heppia conchiloba
''Heppia conchiloba'' (common soil ruby) is a gray to light brown squamulous to foliose terricolous (grows on soil) lichen that occurs in southwestern deserts of North America. The surface appears as if covered in a light dust (pruinose). The ...
Heppia lutosa
''Heppia'' is a genus of olive, brownish, gray, or blackish squamulose, crustose, or peltate like lichens.Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 1, Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bugartz, F., (eds.) 2001/ref> ''Heppia'' was on ...