Lecanora intricata (Ach.) Ach.

Rosa, Iris Nadia De La, Passo, Alfredo, Rodríguez, Juan Manuel, Chiapella, Jorge Oscar & Messuti, María Inés, 2016, A new species and new records of Lecanora (Lecanoraceae, lichenized Ascomycota) with usnic acid from the Antarctic region, Phytotaxa 261 (2), pp. 185-193 : 189-190

Lecanora intricata (Ach.) Ach.

Fig. 3A

For a detailed description of this species see Ryan et al. (2004). The semi-immersed to sessile apothecia with dark discs and the presence of usnic acid and zeorin in the thallus are important diagnostic characters in this saxicolous species. The occurrence of intermediate morphotypes with L. polytropa (Hoffm.) Rabenh. make identification difficult. The presence of a more continuous yellowish thallus, areoles with crenulate margin and mainly immersed apothecia with greenish brown to almost black discs that do not become strongly convex in L. intricata , differentiate both species ( Messuti et al. 2003; Lumbsch & Elix 2004; Ryan et al. 2004; Edwards et al. 2009).

The Antarctic material of L. intricata examined in this survey shows an extremely variable thallus, well-developed to almost absent (or endolithic), formed by areoles which are contiguous to disperse and scarce, thin to thick, sometimes growing on other lichens [e.g. Rhizocarpon geographicum (L.) DC.]. The apothecia are variable in shape and color (yellowish, blackish, bluish, greyish, greenish), adnate, sub-immersed to immersed, lecanorine to most frequently biatorine and the disc plane, convex to strongly convex.

Lecanora intricata is a cosmopolitan species of the L. polytropa group that grows on siliceous rocks. It occurs in holarctic-montane, boreal-arctic, arctic and high montane areas of Europe (e.g. British Isles), North America ( United States) and South America ( Argentina) ( Messuti et al. 2003; Ryan et al. 2004; Edwards et al. 2009). It was reported from the South Shetland Islands (King George Island) in the Antarctic region ( Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001; Śliwa & Olech 2002; Olech 2004). In this survey the distribution range of L. intricata is extended to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Specimens examined:— ANTARCTIC PENINSULA. Danco Coast: Primavera Station, Punta Cierva , near the base, 10° west-facing slopes close sea shore, between Deschampsia antarctica É. Desv. and bryophytes, on rock, elev. 17 m, 64°09′17.9″S, 60°57′23.0″W, 11 February 2014, A. Passo & J. M. Rodríguez ( BCRU 5382 ) ; ibid., 20º north-facing slope, elev. 131 m, 64º09′35.4″S, 60º57′05.2″W, 11 February 2014, J. M. Rodríguez & A. Passo ( BCRU 5390 ).— SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. King George Island : Potter Peninsula, 400 m south of Carlini Station , elev. 41 m, 62°14′28.9″S, 58°39′43.9″W, 16 February 2014, A. Passo & J. M. Rodríguez ( BCRU 5384 , 5392 ) ; ibid., 1000 m south-west of Carlini Station , on mature community, on rock, 62º15′06.9″S, 58º39′33,7″W, 19 February 2014, A. Passo & J. M. Rodríguez ( BCRU 5391 ) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Habitus of the new records of Lecanora in the Antarctica. A. L. intricata (BCRU 5385). B. L. stenotropa (BCRU 5380). Scale = 1 mm.