''Polycoccum laursenii'' is a species of

lichenicolous fungus A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific to ...

in the family Polycoccaceae. It was first described as a new species in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

by Russian mycologist Mikhail Petrovich Zhurbenko. It is found in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is similar to '' Polycoccum cladoniae'' but differs from it in having smaller

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

Ecology

''Polycoccum laursenii'' is a

, meaning that it infects lichens. Its only documented host species is ''

Cladonia pocillum ''Cladonia pocillum'' is a species of lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Swedish botanist Erik Acharius first formally described the species in 1803 as ''Baeomyces pocillum'', but Olivier Jules Richard transferred it to the genus ''Cladonia'' in ...

''.

References

Dothideomycetes Fungi described in 2004 Fungi of North America Fungi of Asia Fungi of Russia Fungi of the United States Taxa named by Mikhail Petrovich Zhurbenko Lichenicolous fungi {{Dothideomycetes-stub