Ocelullaria vallensis Soto-Medina & Lücking, 2023

Soto-Medina, Edier, Aptroot, André & Lücking, Robert, 2023, New species of lichen for Colombia tropical dry forest, Cryptogamie, Mycologie 20 (7), pp. 103-107 : 104-105

Ocelullaria vallensis Soto-Medina & Lücking , sp. nov.

( Fig. 2 )

A new Ocelullaria similar to O. buckii Lücking , but differing in the larger ascospores and fewer septae.

HOLOTYPE. — Colombia. Valle del Cauca, Municipio Andalucía, Hacienda el Verdún , 4°06’30”N, 76°07’09”W, 1056 m, tropical dry forest, 8-13.XII.2020, Soto Medina 87 VER (holo-, TULV).

ETYMOLOGY. — The epithet refers to the Valle del Cauca, in short “Valle”.

ECOLOGY. — This species grows on bark of Simira Aubl. in tropical dry forest.

CHEMISTRY. — Thallus UV–, K–, C–; medulla C–, K–, KC–.

MYCOBANK. — MB 849070.

DESCRIPTION

Thallus corticolous, crustose, up to 7 cm diam., continuous; surface shallowly verrucose-rugose, green-gray to grey; prothallus absent. Photobiont of a species of Trentepohlia . Ascomata rounded to slightly irregular in outline, immersed-erumpent, with almost complete thalline margin, 0.4-0.6 mm diam., 0.1 mm high; disc covered by 0.07-0.15 mm wide pore, filled by black-tipped columella; proper margin distinct, visible as brown-black rim around the pore; thalline margin entire, smooth to shallowly verrucose, grey. Excipulum entire, in lower portion brown, apically carbonized, about 30 µm wide; columella present, finger-like, up to 90 µm broad and 120 µm high, completely carbonized; hypothecium 5-10 µm high, hyaline; hymenium up to 120 µm high, hyaline, not inspersed. Paraphyses unbranched, apically smooth; periphysoids absent; asci cylindrical to clavate, about 120 × 17 µm. Ascospores 8 per ascus, more or less uniseriate, ellipsoid, 3-septate, about 42-45 ×14-15 µm, I+ violet-blue.

NOTES

With its columellate apothecia, the small, hyaline, transversely-septate ascospores, and the lack of secondary compounds, Ocelullaria vallense Soto-Medina & Lücking , sp. nov. is to be placed into the O. papillata (Leight.) Zahlbr. complex sensu Lücking (2015). In this complex, there are four species with apically carbonized excipulum and carbonized columella. Ocellularia marmorata L.I.Ferraro, Lücking, Aptroot & M.Cáceres from Argentina differs in the minutely grainy thallus with columnar crystals and the 5-7-septate ascospores, whereas in the paleotropical O. krathingensis Homchant. & Coppins the ascospores are 7-11-septate. The pantropical O. viridipallens Müll. Arg. differs in the more greenish, finely verrucose thallus and the apothecia lacking a blackish proper margin and with an apically pruinose columella. Most similar is O. buckii Lücking from Brazil ( Lücking 2015), agreeing well in thallus and apothecial morphology with the new species but has much smaller ascospores (20-25× 7-8µm).

Figures

FIG. 2. — Ocellularia vallensis Soto-Medina & Lücking, sp. nov.: A, habitus; B, C, ascospores. Scale bars: A, 10 mm; B, C, 10 μm.