''Pyrenula multicolorata'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling),

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 ...

in the family

Pyrenulaceae The Pyrenulaceae are a family of fungi in the order Pyrenulales. The family was first named by German botanist Gottlob Ludwig Rabenhorst in 1870. Species in the family have a widespread distribution, but are especially prevalent in the tropics, wh ...

, first described in 2016. It is distinguished by its almost superficial with a inspersed with orange crystals, and that contain three internal partitions (

septa The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

Taxonomy

''Pyrenula multicolorata'' was formally described by lichenologists

Gothamie Weerakoon Gothamie Weerakoon ( si, ගෝතමී වීරකෝන්) is a Sri Lankan-based botanist, lichenologist and environmentalist. Early life and education After completing her primary education at the Devi Balika Vidyalaya in Colombo, she a ...

and

André Aptroot André Aptroot (Heemskerk, 1961) is a Dutch mycologist and lichenologist. In 1993 he did his PhD at the University of Utrecht under the supervision of Robbert Gradstein (nl). His dissertation was titled "Systematic studies on pyrenocarpous li ...

in 2016. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, 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 a ...

was collected in Kitulgala-Makandawa, Sri Lanka, on the bark of a tree on 29 March 2015.

Description

The

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 ...

of ''Pyrenula multicolorata'' is oily, olive green, and quite thick, covering areas up to in diameter, and surrounded by a thin black line. are almost superficial, low conical, black, and not covered by the thallus, measuring 0.5–0.7 mm in diameter. The

ostiole An ''ostiole'' is a small hole or opening through which algae or fungi release their mature spores. The word is a diminutive of "ostium", "opening". The term is also used in higher plants, for example to denote the opening of the involuted ...

is apical, brown to black. The is inspersed with many orange crystals that colour the red close to the wall and yellow in the center. number eight per , pale brown (dark brown only when postmature), irregularly biseriate, 3-septate, measuring 12–13.5 by 4.5–5.5 μm, with becoming diamond-shaped, and a relatively thick wall with a thick layer of in the spore tips. were not observed to occur in this species.

Chemistry

The thallus of ''Pyrenula multicolorata'' is UV− and K−. The contains an orange to red or yellow (depending on dilution), KOH-negative substance. Thin-layer chromatography analysis did not detect any substances.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found on trees in wet lowland

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

s and at the time of its publication was known only from Sri Lanka.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108307892 multicolorata Lichen species Lichens described in 2016 Lichens of Sri Lanka Taxa named by André Aptroot Taxa named by Gothamie Weerakoon