''Niorma hosseusiana'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), fruticose lichen 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 is found in South America.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described in 1942 by Hungarian lichenologist

Vilmos Kőfaragó-Gyelnik Vilmos Kőfaragó-Gyelnik (March 30, 1906 – March 15, 1945) was a Hungarian botanist and lichenologist. Prior to earning his PhD in 1929 from Budapest University, he spent a year in Cairo to help organize a botanical museum. In 1930 he started ...

, as a member of genus ''

Teloschistes ''Teloschistes'' is a genus of lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It was circumscribed by Norwegian botanist Johannes Musaeus Norman in 1852. The name of the genus means "split ends". Species *'' Teloschistes chrysophthalmus'' *'' Teloschis ...

''. The

type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

were collected from Argentina. The taxon was transferred to the newly resurrected genus ''

Niorma ''Niorma'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has six fruticose lichen, fruticose species, with ''Niorma derelicta, N. derelicta'' assigned as the type species. The genus was originally proposed by Italian ...

'' 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 ...

and colleagues in 2013.

Description

''Niorma hosseusiana'' has a

fruticose A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or mor ...

(shrub-like)

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 is densely branched and measures approximately in diameter. This lichen adopts a (cushion-shaped) to slightly rising form. Its main are flattened and clearly dorsiventral (having distinct upper and lower sides), with widths ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 mm. The upper side of the thallus is flat and possesses a matte, orange-yellow hue, though occasionally it can appear more greyish-yellow. This surface is smooth, frequently marked with striations, and lacks both a hairy () texture and powdery coating (). The species does not display

soralia Soredia are common reproductive structures of lichens. Lichens reproduce asexually by employing simple fragmentation and production of soredia and isidia. Soredia are powdery propagules composed of fungal hyphae wrapped around cyanobacteria o ...

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 ...

, structures associated with reproduction in some lichens. The lichen's underside is mostly devoid of a protective outer layer (decorticate), presenting a flat to channel-like () appearance. It ranges in colour from grey to a faint greyish-yellow, with longitudinal striations that sometimes form a net-like pattern. This underside does not have hairs ( rhizines). All branches of this lichen are densely surrounded at their edges by mostly straight fibrils, which can vary in colour from grey to yellow. Some fibrils may even have dark tips. ''Niorma hosseusiana'' has numerous apothecia (disk-shaped structures for reproduction). These are located at the ends of the lichen's branches and can either sit directly on the thallus (sessile) or have a small stalk (substipitate). Their size ranges from 1–2.5 mm in diameter. The central of the apothecium is either flat or slightly concave, displaying an orange-red colour without a powdery coating. Its underside is coarse, featuring a texture that varies from granular to net-like, and its colour spans from pale yellow to grey. The edge or margin of the apothecium is pronounced and usually smooth, though on rare occasions, it can appear slightly granular. This margin does not have fibrils. Inside the apothecium, 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 ...

measure approximately 65–70 by 12–15

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 ...

. The ascospores have a (two-chambered) structure and an

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

shape, with sizes averaging 11–15 by 4–8 μm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from= , from2=Q108423152 Teloschistales Lichen species Lichens described in 1941 Lichens of South America Taxa named by Vilmos Kőfaragó-Gyelnik