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Lecanactis rubra

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Lecanactis rubra
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Arthoniomycetes
Order: Arthoniales
Family: Roccellaceae
Genus: Lecanactis
Species:
L. rubra
Binomial name
Lecanactis rubra
Ertz & Sérus. (2009)

Lecanactis rubra is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Roccellaceae. Found in Madagascar, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by Damien Ertz and Emmanuël Sérusiaux. The type specimen was collected by Sérusiaux from the gorge of Manambolo (Mahajanga Province) at an altitude of 300 m (980 ft). At this location, about 3 km (1.9 mi) upstream from Bekopaka, in a dry forest with calcareous soil, it was found growing on bark. This lichen is only known to occur at the type locality.[1]

Lecanactis rubra has a cream-coloured, verrucose (pimply), mat thallus that lacks a cortex. The prothallus is dark brown and byssoid (i.e., like teased wool). The ascospores are fusiform (spindle-shaped) with 3 septa, and typically measure 22.5–27.0 by 5.5–6.0 μm. The lichen contains gyrophoric acid, a secondary compound that can be detected using thin-layer chromatography. It also has an unidentified anthraquinone that is present as numerous red crystals in the excipulum (the ring-shaped layer surrounding the spore-bearing hymenium); the specific epithet rubra refers to this characteristic.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Ertz, Damien; Sérusiaux, Emmanuël (2009). "A new species of Lecanactis (Arthoniales, Roccellaceae) from Madagascar". The Lichenologist. 41 (2): 147–150. doi:10.1017/S0024282909008287. S2CID 86112513.