''Phylloblastia inexpectata'' is a species of

foliicolous Foliicolous refers to the growth habit of certain lichens, algae, and fungi that prefer to grow on the leaves of vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plant ...

(leaf-dwelling)

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Verrucariaceae The Verrucariaceae are a family of mostly lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichen-forming species, which comprise the vast majority of the family, have a wide variety of thallus forms, and include crustose (crust-like), foliose ( ...

. Found in Europe, it was formally described by lichenologists

Emmanuël Sérusiaux Emmanuël Sérusiaux (born 3 October 1953) is a Belgian lichenologist. His career, spanning more than four decades, has combined both lichenology research and political aspects of nature conservation. He spent several periods working as a res ...

, Brian John Coppins, and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected by the second author in Dunskey Glen Woods ( Portpatrick, Scotland), where it was found growing on the leaves of a '' Prunus laurocerasus'' tree growing near a stream. It has also been collected in England, southern Italy,

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, and Spain.

Description

The lichen has a smooth, thin, and inconspicuous thallus that is brownish green or pale greyish green in colour (sometimes tinged with pink). It is up to 5 mm across (usually much less) and about 15–25

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 ...

thick. The photobiont partner is a green alga that is rounded and measures 5–10 μm in diameter; intermixed with fungal

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, they can be aggregated in irregular clumps or plates. The fruiting structures, the perithecia, are initially hemispherical but later develop a depression at the top of the structure that makes them appear wart-shaped. Measuring 0.1–0.15 mm in diameter and about 0.1 mm high, they are pinkish brown to almost black. The ascospores, which measure eight per ascus, have a fusiform to

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 and have three septa, and typically measure 14–16 by 4.5–5 μm. Specimens collected in Spain have a single septum, but have otherwise identical morphology with specimens found elsewhere.

References

Verrucariales Lichen species Lichens described in 2007 Lichens of Northern Europe Lichens of Southeastern Europe Lichens of Macaronesia Taxa named by Emmanuël Sérusiaux Taxa named by Brian John Coppins Taxa named by Robert Lücking {{Eurotiomycetes-stub