''Kaernefia'' 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 ...

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 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, found in Australia or South Africa.

Taxonomy

''Kaernefia'' 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 2013 by

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 ...

, John Elix, Arne Thell, and Jae-Seoun Hur, based on a

molecular phylogenetic 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 ...

analysis of the family

. They assigned '' Kaernefia kaernefeltii'' 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 ...

of the new genus. The generic name honours their colleague, Swedish lichenologist

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 ...

, for "his many contributions to lichenology, in particular lichens of the Teloschistaceae and Parmeliaceae".

Description

Species in ''Kaernefia'' have a poorly developed, indistinct

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 ...

comprising tiny granules or granule-like

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 ...

. It ranges in colour from yellow, to orange to greenish orange or brownish orange. It produces

lecanorine A lichen has lecanorine fruiting body parts if they are shaped like a plate with a ring around them, and that ring is made of tissue similar to the main non-fruiting body part of the lichen.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale ...

apothecia with a thick margin. Lichen products reported from the genus include parietin and ''O''-methylvioxanthin as major compounds, and trace amounts of

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 ...

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 ...

and atranorin.

Species

All three species of ''Kaernefia'' were previously classified in the 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 ...

''. *''

Kaernefia albocrenulata ''Kaernefia'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species, found in Australia or South Africa. Taxonomy ''Kaernefia'' was circumscribed in 2013 by Sergey Kondratyuk, John Elix, Arne Thell, and Jae-Seoun Hu ...

'' – South Africa *'' Kaernefia gilfillaniorum'' – Australia *'' Kaernefia kaernefeltii'' – Australia

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q105494749 Teloschistales Lichen genera Teloschistales genera Taxa described in 2013 Taxa named by John Alan Elix Taxa named by Sergey Kondratyuk