''Mycoblastus'' 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

Tephromelataceae The Tephromelataceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. The family was circumscribed by Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner in 1984. Tephromelataceae comprises the genera '' Tephromela'', '' Calvitimela'', '' Mycoblastu ...

. Members of the genus are commonly called blood lichens.

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 1852 by

Johannes Musaeus Norman Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

, who selected the widespread ''

Mycoblastus sanguinarius ''Mycoblastus'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Tephromelataceae. Members of the genus are commonly called blood lichens. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1852 by Johannes Musaeus Norman, who selected the widespread '' Mycob ...

'' 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 one of many introduced by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in his influential 1753 work ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

'', as ''Lichen sanguinarius''. In North America this species is colloquially known as the "bloody-heart lichen". In 1984

Josef Hafellner Josef Hafellner (1951– ) is an Austrian mycologist and lichenologist. He was awarded the Acharius Medal in 2016 for his lifetime contributions to lichenology. Before his retirement, he was a professor at the Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz ...

created the family Mycoblastaceae to contain this genus, but this family has since been placed in

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with the

Description

''Mycoblastus'' species produce a grayish-white or greenish-gray crustose

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 ...

that contains a

green alga The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

photobiont A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Trebouxia ''Trebouxia'' is a unicellular green alga.Silverside, A. J. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.bioref.lastdragon.org/Chlorophyta/''Trebouxia''.html It is a photosynthetic organism that can exist in almost all habitats found in polar, tropical, and ...

''. The apothecia are typically large, hemmispherical, shiny black or dark pigmented, and lack a margin. There are highly branched and anastomosing

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...

that form a network around 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 ...

. The asci are lecanoralean (meaning an

apothecium 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 ...

containing algae at least below the hypothecium and usually having a distinct amphithecium that often also contains algae) that mostly contain one or two, colorless, thick-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 ...

Species

As of April 2021,

Species Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of Mi ...

accepts 14 species of ''Mycoblastus'': *'' Mycoblastus affinis'' – temperate Northern Hemisphere *''

Mycoblastus alpinus ''Mycoblastus'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Tephromelataceae. Members of the genus are commonly called blood lichens. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1852 by Johannes Musaeus Norman, who selected the widespread ''Mycobl ...

'' – temperate Northern Hemisphere *''

Mycoblastus bryophilus ''Mycoblastus'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Tephromelataceae. Members of the genus are commonly called blood lichens. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1852 by Johannes Musaeus Norman, who selected the widespread ''Mycobl ...

'' – Campbell Island;

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

*'' Mycoblastus caesius'' – temperate oceanic areas of the Northern Hemisphere *'' Mycoblastus campbellianus'' – New Zealand; Tasmania; Campbell Island;

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...

; Australia;

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

; Chile *'' Mycoblastus coniophorus'' – Chile; Juan Fernandez; Auckland Island;

;

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

; Tasmania; Australia *'' Mycoblastus disporus'' – Tasmania; New Zealand *'' Mycoblastus kalioruber'' – Tasmania *'' Mycoblastus leprarioides'' – Australia *'' Mycoblastus oreotropicanus'' – Papua New Guinea *'' Mycoblastus physodalicus'' –

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia *''

Mycoblastus sanguinarioides ''Mycoblastus'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Tephromelataceae. Members of the genus are commonly called blood lichens. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1852 by Johannes Musaeus Norman, who selected the widespread '' Mycob ...

'' – Tasmania; Australia *''

'' – temperate Northern Hemisphere *'' Mycoblastus sinensis'' – China The species once known as ''Mycoblastus fucatus'' was transferred into a new genus, ''

Violella ''Violella'' is a genus of two species of crustose lichens in the family Tephromelataceae. The genus is characterized by its brownish inner ascospore walls, brilliant violet hymenial pigment (called Fucatus-violet), and thallus chemistry. The ty ...

'', circumscribed in 2011 to contain it and other similar species with ''

Biatora ''Biatora'' is a genus of lichens in the family Ramalinaceae. First described in 1817,Fries EM, Sandberg A. (1817). ''Lichenum dianome nova''. Lund. the genus consists of crustose and squamulose lichens with green algal photobionts, biatorine ...

''-type asci and unusual pigmentation in the

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10591072 Lecanorales Lecanorales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1852