''Lichenomphalia tasmanica'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (the waxcaps or waxy caps), DNA evide ...

. It is found in Tasmania, Australia. It has a bright scaley thallus that grows like a green crust on rich soil between rocks. Occasionally. the lichen produces small, bright yellow-orange mushroom-like fruiting bodies.

Taxonomy

The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2012 by

Gintaras Kantvilas Gintaras Kantvilas (born 1956) is an Australian lichenologist, who earned his Ph.D in 1985 from the University of Tasmania with a thesis entitled ''Studies on Tasmanian rainforest lichens''. He has authored over 432 species names, and 167 gener ...

. The type specimen was collected on the track to Nevada Peak at an altitude of , where it was found growing on the ground between boulders in heathland. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

refers to the type locality. The authors explained that they had seen the unidentifiable sterile crust form of the lichen for many years before observing its fruiting stage, noting "it was very exciting when the species was finally encountered fertile, producing not ascomata as expected but attractive, yellow-orange, mushroom-like basidiocarps".

Description

The lichen has a bright green

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 ...

thallus comprising convex squamules (scales) that measure 0.5–2 mm wide and 0.5–1 mm thick. Its fruiting body is a bright yellow-orange mushroom with a cap 3–11 mm wide, and distantly-spaced, decurrent gills on the underside of the cap, more or less the same colour (or lighter) as the cap surface. The stipe is 0.5–10 mm tall with a minute tomentum (i.e. fine, soft "hairs"); its colour is initially white in fresh specimens, but drys to a pale orange-pink. The basidia are four-spored. Basidiospores are translucent with thin walls, typically measuring 7.5–8.5–10 by 5–5.7–6.5

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

Habitat

The thallus squamules of ''Lichenomphalia tasmanica'' usually grow on moist soil that is enriched with

organic matter Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have c ...

, such as is typical of the gaps between stones in heathland at the type locality. Associated lichens include '' Cladonia'' species, ''

Parasiphula fragilis ''Parasiphula'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Coccotremataceae. The genus was circumscribed by Gintaras Kantvilas and Martin Grube in 2006, and contains seven species that are known from cool to cold latitudes in the Southern Hemi ...

'', and ''

Siphula decumbens ''Siphula'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the Icmadophilaceae family. The widespread genus contains about 33 species. ''Siphula'' was circumscribed by Swedish mycologist Elias Fries in 1831. Species *'' Siphula abbatiana'' *'' Siphula abs ...

''. The authors are not sure of the fruiting season of ''Lichenomphalia tasmanica'', but suspect that it does not fruit annually.

References

External links

ABC Radio National
- Images {{Taxonbar, from=Q21276833 Hygrophoraceae Lichen species Lichens described in 2012 Lichens of Australia Taxa named by Gintaras Kantvilas Basidiolichens