Melanelia hepatizon (Ach.) A. Thell

Szczepanska, Katarzyna, Guzow-Krzeminska, Beata & Urbaniak, Jacek, 2021, Infraspecific variation of some brown Parmeliae (in Poland) - a comparison of ITS rDNA and non-molecular characters, MycoKeys 85, pp. 127-160 : 127

Melanelia hepatizon (Ach.) A. Thell

Lichen hepatizon Nova Hedwigia 60:419 (1995) ≡ Lichen hepatizon Ach., Lichenographiae Sueciae Prodromus 110 (1798) ≡ Cetraria hepatizon (Ach.) Vain., Termeszetrajzi Füzetek 22:278 (1899).

Description.

M. hepatizon is foliose species with flat lobes that are 0.25-2.5 mm broad and thick at the margins ( Szczepańska and Kossowska 2017). Its upper surface is glossy, brown to almost black. The lower surface is dark brown to black, paler near the margins, with single, dark rhizines. Pseudocyphellae are mainly present on the margins and edges of lobes. Pycnidia are marginal, but sometimes also laminal, sessile, globose to stalked, slightly elongated or cylindrical with hyaline, bacilliform conidia (3-5 × 1 µm). Apothecia are marginal to laminal, sessile, with hyaline, ellipsoid to oblong-ellipsoid ascospores (6-8 × 4-6 μm).

Chemistry.

Stictic and norstictic acids.

Distribution.

M. hepatizon is a circumpolar and arctic-alpine species occurring from oceanic to continental sites on siliceous rocks in North America and Europe ( Otte et al. 2005). Available molecular data concern samples collected in North America (Canada, Greenland) as well as North (Iceland, Norway, Sweden) and West (Italy) Europe.

Haplotypes differentiation.

A higher number of haplotypes was detected in M. hepatizon (n = 40), in which we identified 12 haplotypes (Fig. 4 , Table 2 ). Amongst newly-sequenced specimens, we identified six haplotypes. Some are more common and were previously found in Greenland, Iceland, Italy, Norway or Sweden. In contrast, others were only found in newly-sequenced specimens, such as sample 91 from the Sudety Mountains in Poland and sample 117 from the Karpaty Mountains in Slovakia. However, no geographic pattern was found in the dataset.

Figures

Figure 4. Haplotype network, based on ITS rDNA sequences from specimens of Melanelia hepatizon. Newly-generated sequences are described with isolate numbers preceding the species names. Sequences downloaded from GenBank are described with their accession numbers. Mutational changes are presented as numbers in brackets near lines between haplotypes.