''Astrothelium megaeneum'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling)

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Trypetheliaceae The Trypetheliaceae are a family of mainly lichen-forming fungi in the order Trypetheliales. Genera *'' Alloarthopyrenia'' – 1 sp. *''Aptrootia'' – 3 spp. *'' Architrypethelium'' – 8 spp. *''Astrothelium'' – ca. 275 spp. *'' Bathel ...

. Found in Bolivia, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologists Adam Flakus and

André Aptroot André Aptroot (Heemskerk, 1961) is a Dutch mycologist and lichenologist. In 1993 he did his PhD at the University of Utrecht under the supervision of Robbert Gradstein (nl). His dissertation was titled "Systematic studies on pyrenocarpous li ...

. The type specimen was collected in

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is a national park in northeast Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz Department, Province of José Miguel de Velasco, Bolivia, on the border with Brazil. Description Noel Kempff Mercado National Park cover ...

(

José Miguel de Velasco Province José Miguel de Velasco or Velasco is a province in the Santa Cruz department of Bolivia. Its capital is San Ignacio de Velasco. The province is named after the Bolivian president José Miguel de Velasco Franco. It was created by law on October 12 ...

, Santa Cruz Department); there, at an altitude of , it was found growing on bark in Beni savanna. It is only known to occur at the type locality. The species epithet ''megaeneum'' refers to both its characteristic large ascomata and ascospores, and its similarity to ''

Astrothelium aeneum ''Astrothelium'' is a genus of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichens in the family Trypetheliaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 1824 by German botanist Franz Gerhard Eschweiler, with '' Astrothelium conicum'' assigned as the type species. Spe ...

''.

References

megaeneum Lichen species Lichens described in 2016 Lichens of Bolivia Taxa named by André Aptroot Taxa named by Adam Grzegorz Flakus {{Dothideomycetes-stub