Japewia aliphatica Malíček, Palice, Tønsberg & Vondrák
Phytotaxa, 461, 1: 23, 2020.
Synonyms:
Distribution:
Description: Thallus crustose, episubstratic, brownish to green-grey, blastidiate/sorediate, when well-developed of 0.5(-1 mm) wide and up to 0.3(-0.6) mm thick areoles, forming up to 3(-5) cm wide patches, without a distinct prothallus. Blastidia brown in sun-exposed sites, olive-brown to pale grey-green in shaded sites, (20-)25-35(-45) µm in diam., the wall formed by brown (K+ dark brown) hyphae with ellipsoid to rounded cells. Soralia often missing, developing by disintegration of blastidia, becoming confluent or rarely delimited, rounded, and 0.1-0.2 mm across, the soredia farinose, whitish or less frequently pale brown to pale green-grey, 20-35 µm in diam., sometimes gathered into up to 80 µm wide consoredia. Apothecia very rare, biatorine, 0.4-0.5 mm across, with a convex, glossy, reddish-brown, epruinose, disc, soon emarginate. Proper exciple colourless in inner part, reddish-brown in outer part, K+ brown, N-, of radiating, branched hyphae; epithecium reddish brown, K+ brown, N-, without granules; hymenium more or less colourless, up to 100 µm high, inspersed with oil droplets; paraphyses coherent, richly branched and anastomosing, surrounded by a gel coat, 1.5-2.5 µm thick at mid-level, the apical cells swollen, up to 4 µm wide, with more or less distinct brown caps; hypothecium colourless, with oil droplets. Asci initially 8-spored, but often (1-)3-6-spored at maturity, broadly clavate, with a well-developed amyloid tholus. Ascospores 1-celled, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, hyaline, (17-)18-23(-25) x (12-)13-16(-17) µm, the wall multilayered, 2-4(-6) µm thick. Photobiont chlorococcoid. Spot tests: K-, C-, KC- P-, UV-. Chemistry: thallus with aliphatic acids.Note: a recently-described, mostly sterile species, hitherto known from several localities in Central Europe, including the Alps (Tyrol, Austria). It grows on the bark of coniferous and deciduous trees, mainly Fagus, in humid montane forests. To be looked for in Italy.
Growth form: Crustose
Substrata: bark
Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia
Reproductive strategy: mainly asexual, by soredia, or soredia-like structures (e.g. blastidia)
Predictive model
Source: Malíček J., Palice Z., Vondrák J. & Tønsberg T. (2020) Phytotaxa 461(1): 21-30
Growth form: Crustose
Substrata: bark
Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia
Reproductive strategy: mainly asexual, by soredia, or soredia-like structures (e.g. blastidia)
Predictive model
