Absconditella is a rather small genus with 17, usually rare, inconspicuous, often ephemeral and therefore often overlooked species occurring on strongly acid, humid substrata. The genus is included in the Stictidaceae (Baloch & al. 2009, Aptroot & al. 2014, Miadlikowska & al. 2014), but appears to be polyphyletic. For example, according to Aptroot & al. (2014) the type of the genus, A. sphagnorum, is sister to the perithecioid Geisleria, while A. lignicola forms a distinct lineage basal to the mainly saprotrophic Cryptodiscus. Suija & van den Boom (2023) showed that Absconditella includes two distinct lineages, one of them, sister to Xyloschistes, Ingvariella and Cryptodiscus, was segregated into the new genus Absconditonia, while the monotypic genus Geisleria proved to belong to Absconditella. Keys to European species were provided by Bielczyk & Kiszka (2001) and van den Boom & al. (2015). The genus is poorly known in Italy, with only 2 species (A. annexa and A. lignicola) being known for the country (Nimis 2016). The present key includes almost all species known from Europe, especially but not only from the Alps (Nimis & al. 2018), which should be looked for in the Italian Alps, for a total of 10 species.

References

Aptroot A., Parnment S., Lücking R., Baloch E., Jungbluth P., Cáceres M.E.S., Lumbsch H.T. 2014. Molecular phylogeny resolves a taxonomic misunderstanding and places Geisleria close to Absconditella s. str. (Ostropales: Stictidaceae). Lichenologist, 46, 1: 115-128.
Baloch E., Gilenstam G., Wedin M. 2009. Phylogeny and classification of Cryptodiscus, with a taxonomic synopsis of the Swedish species. Fungal Diversity, 38: 51-68.
Bielczyk U., Kiszka J. 2001. The genus Absconditella (Stictidaceae, Ascomycota Lichenisati) in Poland. Polish Botanical Journal, 46, 2: 175-181.
Miadlikowska J., Kauff F., Högnabba F., Oliver J.C., Molnár K, Fraker E., Gaya E., Hafellner J., Hofstetter V., Gueidan C., Otálora M.A.G., Hodkinson B., Kukwa M., Lücking R., Björk C., Sipman H.J.M., Burgaz A.R., Thell A., Passo A., Myllys L., Goward T., Fern 2014. A multigene phylogenetic synthesis for the class Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota): 1307 fungi representing 1139 infrageneric taxa, 317 genera and 66 families. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 79: 132-168.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The lichens of Italy. A second annotated catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 740 pp.
Nimis P.L., Hafellner J., Roux C., Clerc P., Mayrhofer H., Martellos S., Bilovitz P.O. 2018. The Lichens of the Alps. An Annotated Catalogue. Mycokeys, 31: 1-634.
Suija A., van den Boom P. 2023. Phylogenetic relationships, taxonomic novelties, and combinations within Stictidaceae (Ostropales, Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota): focus on Absconditella. Mycol Progress, 22, 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-023-01889-2
van den Boom P.P.G., Brand A.M., Suija A. 2015. A new species of Absconditella from western and central Europe with a key to the European members. Phytotaxa, 238, 3: 271-277.

Last modified: February, 19, 2024

Project Dryades, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste - CC BY-SA 4.0