Biology:Malmidea coralliformis
| Malmidea coralliformis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Malmideaceae |
| Genus: | Malmidea |
| Species: | M. coralliformis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Malmidea coralliformis Kalb (2011)
| |
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| Holotype: Doi Suthep–Pui National Park, Chiang Mai province, Thailand | |
Malmidea coralliformis is a corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Malmideaceae.[1] It was described in 2011 from northern Thailand. The species has a densely warted thallus with coral-like branching warts and ascospores that lack septa and are [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]. It resembles M. aurigera but lacks atranorin and tends to have larger spores.
Taxonomy
The species was introduced as Malmidea coralliformis by Klaus Kalb in 2011 as part of a study establishing Malmidea and its family Malmideaceae. The holotype was collected in Thailand, Chiang Mai province, Doi Suthep–Pui National Park at about 700 m elevation, in a humid Dipterocarpus forest. The epithet coralliformis refers to the conspicuous, partly ramified, coral-like warts on the thallus.[2]
Description
The thallus forms a thin, crust-like growth (about 50–70 μm thick) on bark and is densely warted ([[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]), with individual warts about 0.2–0.3 mm high and 0.1–0.3 mm wide that often coalesce and branch; soredia and isidia are absent. The medulla is whitish and reacts K+ (orange). Apothecia (the spore-producing discs) are [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]], rounded and 0.7–1.1 mm in diameter; the [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] is brown to dark grey-brown with a thin, [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] margin of the granifera type. The rim tissue ([[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]]) is hyaline peripherally and internally shows a medullary layer of loosely arranged, [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|periclinally]] arranged hyphae bearing hydrophobic granules that partly dissolve in potassium hydroxide solution with a greenish-yellow reaction. The [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] is brown, the [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]] (tissue beneath the hymenium) is blackish-brown and K–, and the hymenium is 75–100 μm high. Asci are 60–70 × 13–15 μm. Ascospores number 6–8 per ascus, are colourless, ellipsoid, non-septate and [[Glossary of lichen terms#{{biology:{1}}}|{{Biology:{1}}}]], measuring 10–17 × 6–10 μm. The authors report several unknown xantholepinones as the detectable chemistry and note the absence of atranorin.[2]
Habitat and distribution
The species is known from northern Thailand (Chiang Mai province), where it grows on tree bark in humid evergreen Dipterocarpus forest around 700 m elevation. The original material was collected along the trail to Monthanthan waterfall in Doi Suthep–Pui National Park.[2]
References
- ↑ "Malmidea coralliformis Kalb". Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/3XQ86.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kalb, Klaus; Rivas Plata, Eimy; Lücking, Robert; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2011). "The phylogenetic position of Malmidea, a new genus for the Lecidea piperis- and Lecanora granifera-groups (Lecanorales, Malmideaceae), inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequences, with special reference to Thai species". A Lichenological Legacy – Festschrift Thomas H. Nash III. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 106. Stuttgart: J. Cramer in der Gebråder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung. pp. 143–168. ISBN 978-3-443-58085-8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284543336.
Wikidata ☰ Q21326292 entry
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