The genus Bagliettoa accommodates a group of species formerly treated as members of Verrucaria, which are characterised by a radially sulcate involucrellum (missing in some species), immersed perithecia, and an endolithic thallus with a lithocortex, that occur on limestone or on dolomite, and have a mainly southern distribution in Europe. The group has been extensively treated by Halda (2003), who does not recognise it as worthy of being treated at generic rank and accepts a few species only. Molecular studies by Gueidan & al. (2007, 2009) have, however, demonstrated that the species included in Bagliettoa are indeed closely related, forming a well-defined lineage within the Verrucariaceae, which includes also species without an involucrellum (Gueidan & Roux 2007). The molecular study by Yuzon & al. (2013), which we mainly follow here, confirms that the genus is well-founded and recognizes 12 species worldwide, 8 of which, plus the poorly known B. crassiuscula, are known from Italy (Nimis 2016).

References

Gueidan C., Roux C. 2007. Verrucaria calciseda DC. Néotypification, description et transfert dans le genre Bagliettoa. Bull. Soc. linn. Provence, 58: 181-194.
Gueidan C., Roux C., Lutzoni F. 2007. Using a multigene phylogenetic analysis to assess generic delineation and character evolution in Verrucariaceae (Verrucariales, Ascomycota). Mycol. Res., 111: 1145-1168.
Gueidan C., Savi S., Thüs H., Roux C., Keller Ch., Tibell L., Prieto M., Heiðmarsson S., Breuss O., Orange A., Fröberg L., Amtoft Wynns A., Navarro-Rosinés P., Krzewicka B., Pykälä J., Grube M., Lutzoni F. 2009. Generic classification of the Verrucariaceae (Ascomycota) based on molecular and morphological evidence: recent progress and remaining challenges. Taxon, 58, 1: 184-208.
Halda J. 2003. A taxonomic study of the calcicolous endolitic species of the genus Verrucaria (Ascomycotina, Verrucariales) with the lid-like and radiately opening involucrellum. Acta Mus. Richnov., Sect. natur., 10, 1: 1-148.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The Lichens of Italy. A Second Annotated Catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 739 pp.
Yuzon J., Roux C., Lendemer J.C., Gueidan C. 2014. Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of the endolithic lichen genus Bagliettoa (Ascomycota: Verrucariaceae). Taxon, 63, 6: 1177-1192.

Last modified: October, 20, 2024

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