''Bathelium carolinianum'' is a species of

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

in the family

Trypetheliaceae The Trypetheliaceae are a family of mainly lichen-forming fungi in the order Trypetheliales. The family consists almost exclusively of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens with an almost strictly tropical distribution. Taxonomy Trypethe ...

. It is found in the eastern United States.

Taxonomy

The lichen was first

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

as a new species in 1858 by American lichenologist

Edward Tuckerman Edward Tuckerman (December 7, 1817, in Boston, Massachusetts – March 15, 1886) was an American botanist and professor who made significant contributions to the study of lichens and other alpine plants. He was a founding member of the Natural H ...

. His of the new species was as follows (translated from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

): "''Trypethelium carolinianum'', new species, with a crustaceous, smooth, and wax-like thallus turning from green to brownish, with warts that are depressed to somewhat hemispherical, confluent, of irregular shape, and somewhat anastomosing, turning deep brown to blackish, with a yellow stroma, perithecia that are ovoid, thin, and black, and ostioles that are papillate and black." The

species epithet Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) ...

''carolinianum'' refers to the type locality, in

Santee Canal The Santee Canal was one of the earliest canals built in the United States. It was built to provide a direct water route between Charleston and Columbia, the new state capital of South Carolina. It was named to the National Register of Historic ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, where

Henry William Ravenel Henry William Ravenel (May 19, 1814 – July 17, 1887) was an American planter and botanist. He studied fungi and cryptogams in South Carolina, discovering a large number of new species. The genus ''Ravenelia'' is named after him, along with many ...

found it growing on tree trunks in 1851. Richard Harris transferred the species to the genus ''

Bathelium ''Bathelium'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Trypetheliaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1803 by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius, with '' Bathelium mastoideum'' assigned as the type species. Description Genus ...

'' in 1995.

Description

''Bathelium carolinianum'' features a greenish-brown

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

. Its dark brown cluster in , which is rich in yellow

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

. This lichen commonly thrives on smooth-barked hardwoods, notably the

American holly ''Ilex opaca'', the American holly, is a species of holly, native to the eastern and south-central United States, from coastal Massachusetts south to central Florida, and west to southeastern Missouri and eastern Texas. Description ''Ilex opaca ...

. It does not react with any of the standard chemical spot tests. '' Trypethelium virens'' is somewhat similar in appearance, but its pseudostromata are the same color as the thallus, and its pseudostroma does not have yellow pigment.

Species interactions

One of the main characteristics of the lichen '' Bacidia thiersiana'', widespread throughout southeastern North America and described as new to science in 2020, is its frequent occurrence on and near the thalli of ''Bathelium carolinianum''. ''

Etayoa trypethelii ''Etayoa'' is an ungulate of the family Carodniidae in the order Xenungulata that lived during the Early Eocene (~ 55 Ma) in northern South America. Etymology The genus of the type species ''Etayoa bacatensis'' was named by palaeontologist ...

'' is a

lichenicolous fungus A lichenicolous fungus is a member of a specialised group of fungi that live exclusively on lichens as their host organisms. These fungi, comprising over 2,000 known species across 280 genera, exhibit a wide range of ecological strategies, includ ...

that has been documented to infect ''Bathelium carolinianum''; it does not visibly damage the thallus of its

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21248680 Trypetheliaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 1858 Lichens of the United States Taxa named by Edward Tuckerman