Biology:Lecanoropsis

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Lecanoropsis is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Lecanoraceae.[1] Species in this genus grow mainly on bark and wood, where the body of the lichen is often largely embedded in the substrate rather than forming a conspicuous surface crust. Chemically, they are characterised by usnic acid or the related compound isousnic acid. The genus was validated in 2025 following a molecular study that confirmed it as a distinct lineage, with six species described as new to science in the same revision.

Taxonomy

The name was originally introduced by Maurice Choisy in 1949,[2] but his generic circumscription did not designate a type species and the name is therefore treated as invalidly published.[3] A later typification by Josef Hafellner fixed the type as Lecanoropsis saligna.[3] A seven-locus phylogeny of Lecanora (in the loose sense) recovered Lecanoropsis as a strongly supported lineage within the MPRPS clade of Lecanoraceae.[4]

In a 2025 revision, Ivanovich and co-authors re-examined the position of the Lecanora saligna group within Lecanora in the loose sense, a large assemblage of crustose lichens comprising around 1,000 recognised species and traditionally divided into several morphology-based groups. They focused on 23 species assigned to the L. saligna group, which are mainly corticolous (bark-dwelling) or lignicolous (wood-dwelling) and usually contain isousnic acid, usnic acid, or both as major secondary metabolites. Their study combined detailed morphological work with a molecular analysis based on seven DNA loci, including four newly developed mitochondrial primer pairs, and recovered well-supported species boundaries within the group.[5] The authors emphasized that adding the newer mitochondrial loci improved phylogenetic resolution in this part of Lecanoraceae, and that earlier two-locus analyses had left the saligna lineage weakly supported.[4] Compared with earlier analyses, the expanded dataset confirmed the monophyly of a "core" saligna clade; species in this clade were formally segregated into Lecanoropsis, thereby applying Choisy's generic name to a molecularly defined lineage. The revision also described six species as new to science.[5]

A popular account from Great Basin National Park discussed Lecanora prolificans, a species described from BioBlitz material. In a seven-locus phylogeny, L. prolificans clustered outside Lecanoropsis with Lecanora mughicola and L. laxa in a separate clade between Lecanoropsis and Straminella.[6][4]

The same seven-locus phylogeny recovered a separate, well-supported clade of saligna-like taxa outside Lecanoropsis, including Lecanora mughicola and L. prolificans; these species produce usnic and isousnic acid but lack macroconidia. The authors also rejected the previously suggested transfer of Rhizoplaca mcleanii to Lecanoropsis and recommended retaining it in Rhizoplaca.[4]

Description

Lecanoropsis comprises mainly bark- and wood-dwelling crustose lichens with a thallus that is often largely immersed in the substrate and only weakly developed on the surface; most species are [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]. The apothecia are typically [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] in form, although in Lecanoropsis anopta mature apothecia can become more or less [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] in appearance. The [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] is [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] and lacks large crystals that remain insoluble in potassium hydroxide solution (K). Conidia vary among species, and some taxa produce conspicuous [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]].[4]

Chemically, species typically contain dibenzofuran derivatives such as usnic acid and isousnic acid, while atranorin and psoromic acid are absent.[4]

Species

As of November 2025, 23 species are included in Lecanoropsis by the Catalogue of Life,[1] although some saligna-like taxa (for example Lecanora prolificans) have been recovered outside the genus in multi-locus phylogenies.[4]

  • Lecanoropsis albellula (Nyl.) Ivanovich (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis anopta (Nyl.) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis anoptizodes (Nyl.) Palice & Ivanovich (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis austrocascadensis Hollinger & Ivanovich (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis calabrica (M.Brand & van den Boom) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis coniferarum (Printzen) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis coppinsii (M.Brand & van den Boom) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis coracina Ivanovich, Otte & Sheehy (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis crassithallina (van den Boom) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis iapyx Ivanovich & Hollinger (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis latens (Printzen) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis micans Ivanovich, Hollinger & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis omissa Palice, Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis pseudosarcopidoides (M.Brand & van den Boom) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis prolificans Ivanovich, Hollinger & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis quercicola (Coppins & P.James) Ivanovich (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis saligna (Schrad.) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis sarcopidoides (A.Massal.) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis subcinctula (Nyl.) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis subintricata (Nyl.) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis subravida (Nyl.) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)
  • Lecanoropsis subsaligna (M.Brand & van den Boom) Ivanovich & Printzen (2025)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lecanoropsis". Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/5BNT. 
  2. ↑ Choisy, M. (1949). "Catalogue des lichens de la region Lyonnaise. Fasc. 2" (in fr). Bulletin mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon 18: 137–152 [143]. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Record Details: Lecanoropsis M. Choisy, Bull. mens. Soc. linn. Soc. Bot. Lyon 18(7): 143 (1949)". Index Fungorum. https://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=2691. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Ivanovich-Hichins, Cristóbal; Weber, Lilith; Li, Lijuan; Leavitt, Steven D.; Muggia, Lucia; Palice, Zdenek; Pérez-Ortega, Sergio; Sohrabi, Mohammad et al. (2025). "New phylogenetic insights into the lichen genus Lecanora s. lat. (Lecanoraceae, Ascomycota): resurrection of the genera Glaucomaria, Straminella and Zeora". The Lichenologist 57 (6): 278–303. doi:10.1017/S0024282925101321. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ivanovich, Cristóbal; Weber, Lilith; Palice, Zdeněk; Hollinger, Jason; Otte, Volker; Sohrabi, Mohammad; Sheehy, Steve; Printzen, Christian (2025). "A taxonomic revision of the lichen genus Lecanoropsis (Lecanoraceae)". Phytotaxa 695 (1): 1–56. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.695.1.1. 
  6. ↑ Hollinger, Jason; Noell, Nastassja (21 May 2025). "One of Our Favorite Lichens Gets a Name (U.S. National Park Service)". https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/one-of-our-favorite-lichens-gets-a-name.htm. 

Wikidata ☰ Q75396525 entry



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