''Trimmatothele'' 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 ...

of saxicolous (rock-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 ...

s in the family

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 ( ...

. It has five species. The genus was formally published by lichenologist

Alexander Zahlbruckner Alexander Zahlbruckner (31 May 1860, Svätý Jur – 1938, Vienna) was an Austrian- Hungarian botanist who specialized in the study of lichens. Johann Babtist Zahlbruckner, an earlier Austrian botanist, was his grandfather. From 1878 to 1883 ...

in 1903. 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 ...

, '' Trimmatothele perquisita'', was originally collected from Norway by

Johannes M. Norman Johannes Musæus Norman (1823–1903) was a Norwegian botanist, trained as a medical doctor. Norman was the son of a priest, took artium in 1840 and graduated in medicine in 1847. After a short time as a military doctor in the First Schleswig War ...

, who placed it in the genus ''Coniothele'' in 1868. Diagnostic characteristics of ''Trimmatothele'' include a thin

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 ...

with a smooth surface; small perithecia that are partially immersed in the substrata and have an involucrellum;

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 ...

that contain multiple

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; and small, simple ascospores (i.e., without any

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 ...

). ''Trimmatothele'' has been described as one of the most poorly known genera of lichens due to the rarity of its species, the few available

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

specimens, and some missing

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 ...

Species

*'' Trimmatothele glacialis'' *'' Trimmatothele maritima'' *'' Trimmatothele perquisita'' *'' Trimmatothele petri'' – Seychelles *'' Trimmatothele umbellulariae''

References

Verrucariales Eurotiomycetes genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1903 Taxa named by Alexander Zahlbruckner {{Eurotiomycetes-stub