''Astrothelium pseudodissimulum'' is a species of
corticolous (bark-dwelling),
crustose lichen in the family
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
Papua New Guinea, it was
formally described as a new species in 2016 by Dutch lichenologist
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 by
Harrie Sipman
Henricus (Harrie) Johannes Maria Sipman (born 1945) is a Dutch lichenologist. He specialises in tropical and subtropical lichens, and has authored or co-authored more than 250 scientific publications. He was the curator of the lichen herbarium ...
in
Brahman Mission (
Madang Province) at an altitude of ; there, it was found in a
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
growing on smooth tree bark. The lichen has a smooth, pale yellowish-green
thallus with a
cortex but lacking a
prothallus. It covers areas of up to in diameter. The only
lichen product detected in collected samples of the lichen using
thin-layer chromatography was an
anthraquinone.
The combination of characteristics of the lichen that distinguish it from others in ''
Astrothelium'' are its ;
pigment in the medulla that reacts
K+ (red); and the pseudostromatic form of the ascomata, with whitish-coloured, to prominent pseudostromata.
References
pseudodissimulum
Lichen species
Lichens described in 2016
Lichens of New Guinea
Taxa named by André Aptroot
{{Dothideomycetes-stub