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 ...
of
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 of
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 ...
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.grow on bark, while others grow on rock. All three occur in the southern part of the South American continent, where they are fairly common.
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 2018 by lichenologists
Sergey Kondratyuk
Sergey Yakovlevich Kondratyuk ( uk, Сергій Якович Кондратюк) (born 17 May 1959) is a Ukrainian botanist specialising in lichenology. His research deals with the taxonomy, floristics, ecology and geography of lichens and lic ...
, Laszlo Lőkös,
Ingvar Kärnefelt
Jan Eric Ingvar Kärnefelt (born 1944) is a Swedish lichenologist.
Early life and education
Kärnefelt was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1944. His initial goal in his higher-level studies at University of Cologne in 1966–1967 was to become ...
, and Arne Thell, with ''H. chilensis'' 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 ...
. This species was previously classified in the large genus ''
Caloplaca
''Caloplaca'' is a lichen genus comprising a number of distinct species. Members of the genus are commonly called firedot lichen, jewel lichen.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, gold lichens, "ora ...
'', which several
molecular phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
studies had previously shown to be polyphyletic. The genus name ''Hosseusiella'' honours the German botanist
Carl Curt Hosseus
Carl Curt Hosseus (1878–1950) was a German botanist born in Stromberg im Thale, Rhineland. He gained his doctorate in 1903 from Leipzig University, and sailed Genoa in 1904 for Thailand where he found '' Viola hossei'', which was named for him. ...
, who worked on the flora of South America.
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 genus ''Hosseusiella'' typically presents as small, crust-like to leaf-like structures that can form distinct rosette shapes with pronounced around the edges. In some cases, they take on a more tufted, cushion-like appearance in their centres. Their colour ranges from yellowish-red or brownish-orange to dark reddish-orange or orange-yellow, often becoming paler towards the end of their lobes or
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 ...
tips. The surface can be either glossy or . The isidia sometimes appear in abundance to form raised clusters. In one species, the centre is marked by apothecia or small wart-like protuberances stemming from them. The lobes of these lichens spread out in a consistent pattern and can be closely attached () to the surface they grow on or might rise a bit, taking on a cylindrical shape. These lobes might or might not have isidia and can be anchored to their substrate by internal fungal threads originating from the medulla. The lower cortex of the lichen might be missing in areas where the lobes are detached from the surface. The -like apothecia structures can vary in frequency, have a stalk, and come in various types and colours, from orange to reddish or brownish-orange. The
asci ASCI or Asci may refer to:
* Advertising Standards Council of India
* Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy
* Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative
* American Society for Clinical Investigation
* Argus Sour Crude Index
* Association of ...
usually contain eight spores, which are clear and
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. Additionally, they produce spore-like structures called
conidia
A conidium ( ; ), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (), is an asexual, non-motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also called mitospores due to the ...
that are narrow and rod-shaped. Both the thallus and apothecia of ''Hosseusiella'' have lichen products like parietin,
teloschistin
Fallacinol (teloschistin) is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in some lichens, particularly in the family Teloschistaceae, as well as a couple of plants and non lichen-forming fungi. In ...
,
fallacinal
Fallacinal is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae.
History
In 1936, Japanese chemists Mitizo Asano and Sinobu Fuziwara reported on the ...
,
parietinic acid
Parietinic acid is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae. The substance was first reported in the literature by the German chemist Walter ...
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 ...