''Hypogymnia diffractaica'' is a species of
foliose lichen in the family
Parmeliaceae. Initially reported from
Southwest China, it was
described as a new species by
Bruce McCune
Bruce Pettit McCune (born 1952) is an American lichenologist, botanist, plant ecologist, and software developer for analysis of ecological data.
Biography
McCune grew up in Cincinnati. He completed his freshman year of college at Lawrence Univers ...
in 2003. The
type
Type may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc.
* Data type, collection of values used for computations.
* File type
* TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file.
* Ty ...
specimen was collected in
Jiulong County (
Sichuan Province), at an elevation of . Here it was found growing on the bark and wood of ''
Rhododendron
''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...
''; it has also been recorded on
birch. It is characterized by its slender lobes, the rimmed holes on the lower surface, and the presence of the chemical
diffractaic acid
Diffractaic acid is a β-orcinol depside with the molecular formula C20H22O7, which is produced by lichens. Diffractaic acid has cytotoxic, cytogenetic, oxidative, analgesic
An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American Eng ...
as the main
secondary metabolite in the
medulla. It has a lower surface that is expanded and puffed out. ''
Hypogymnia hengduanensis'', the only other ''
Hypogymnia
''Hypogymnia'' is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. They are commonly known as tube lichens, bone lichens, or pillow lichens. Most species lack rhizines (root-like attachment organs on the lower surface) that are otherwise c ...
'' species containing diffractaic acid as the main medullary substance, is quite similar in appearance, but can be distinguished from ''H. diffractaica'' by the presence of
isidia.
It also tends to grow at slightly lower elevations. In 2018, ''H. diffractaica'' was recorded from
Bhutan.
References
diffractaica
Lichen species
Lichens of Asia
Lichens described in 2003
Taxa named by Bruce McCune
{{Parmeliaceae-stub