''Palicella'' 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

Lecanoraceae The Lecanoraceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. Species of this family have a widespread distribution. Taxonomy Lecanoraceae was circumscribed by German lichenologist Gustav Wilhelm Körber Gustav Wilhelm Körber ...

. It contains five species.

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 2014 by lichenologists Pamela Rodriguez-De Flakus and Christian Printzen to accommodate 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 ...

, ''

Palicella glaucopa ''Palicella'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Lecanoraceae. It contains five species. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 2014 by lichenologists Pamela Rodriguez-De Flakus and Christian Printzen to accommodate the type species, ...

'' (formerly placed in the genus ''

Lecidea ''Lecidea'' is a genus of crustose lichens with a carbon black ring or outer margin ( exciple) around the fruiting body disc (apothecium), usually (or always) found growing on (saxicolous) or in (endolithic An endolith or endolithic is an or ...

''), and two closely related species, ''P. filamentosa'' and ''P. schizochromatica''.

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

analyses of these lichens revealed a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

that 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 representatives from two Lecanoraceae genera, '' Lecanora symmicta'' and '' Pyrrhospora quernea''. Two additional species were transferred to ''Palicella'' from ''

Lecanora ''Lecanora'' is a genus of lichen commonly called rim lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichens in the genus ''Squamarina'' are also called rim lichens. Members of the genus have roughly ci ...

'' in 2019.

Description

''Palicella'' species have biatorine

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 ...

, which are often darkened (by the

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

cinereorufa-green), an exciple (a saucer-shaped rim around 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 ...

) consisting of radiating, narrow

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 with elongated

lumina Lumina may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Lumina'', a literary journal published by Sarah Lawrence College * ''World of Lumina'' or ''Lumina'', a graphic novel by Emanuele Tenderini and Linda Cavallini Music * "Lumina", ...

, and a hymenium with branched and sparsely anastomosed paraphyses. Other microscopic characteristics include an

ascus 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 ...

with a broad axial body surrounded by a distinct darker staining layer, and

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 with a narrow

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.

Species

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 five species in ''Palicella'': *'' Palicella anakeestiicola'' *'' Palicella filamentosa'' *''

'' *''

Palicella schizochromatica ''Palicella'' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Lecanoraceae. It contains five species. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 2014 by lichenologists Pamela Rodriguez-De Flakus and Christian Printzen to accommodate the type species, ...

'' *'' Palicella xantholeuca''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q23073036 Lecanoraceae Lichen genera Lecanorales genera Taxa described in 2014