''Lepidocollema'' 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.Pannariaceae The Pannariaceae are a family of lichens in the order Peltigerales (suborder Collematineae). Species from this family have a widespread distribution, but are especially prevalent in southern temperate regions. Genera According to a recent (202 ...

. It 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 1890 to contain a single Brazilian species that has not been collected since. In 2016, the entire family was revised and updated, resulting in the expansion of ''Lepidocollema'' to 24

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

species.

Taxonomay

''Lepidocollema'' was originally

in 1890 by Finnish lichenologist

Edvard August Vainio Edvard August Vainio (born Edvard Lang; 5 August 185314 May 1929) was a Finnish lichenology, lichenologist. His early works on the lichens of Lapland (Finland), Lapland, his three-volume monograph on the lichen genus ''Cladonia'', and, in parti ...

with only 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 ...

, '' L. carassense''. This lichen is a gelatinous ''

Parmeliella ''Parmeliella'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Pannariaceae The Pannariaceae are a family of lichens in the order Peltigerales (suborder Collematineae). Species from this family have a widespread distribution, but are especial ...

''-like species that has a

photobiont A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Nostoc ''Nostoc'', also known as star jelly, troll’s butter, spit of moon, fallen star, witch's butter (not to be confused with the fungi commonly known as witches' butter), and witch’s jelly, is the most common genus of cyanobacteria found in vari ...

''. It has only been collected once from Brazil. The family Pannariaceae was revised in 2014 with the help of

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 ...

. As a result, the genus was accepted and 23 tropical species were transferred into it, mostly from the genus ''

''.

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

ally, ''Lepidocollema'' is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to '' Physma''.

Description

''Lepidocollema'' is characterised by the formation of large, flat rosettes on a thick layer of rhizohyphae, the presence of a cellular thalline

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...

with a thalline margin,

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 ...

with a wide apical ring-structure, and thin-walled

ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...

s. Other than the type species, the thallus is heteromerous in all ''Lepidocollema'' species. This refers to a tissue arrangement whereby the

mycobiont A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or ...

e) and

photobiont A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

l cells) are arranged in distinct layers.

Species

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21220752 Peltigerales Lichen genera Taxa named by Edvard August Vainio Taxa described in 1890 Peltigerales genera