''Briancoppinsia'' is a

fungal A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

genus in the family

Arthoniaceae The Arthoniaceae are a family of lichenized, lichenicolous and saprobic fungi in the order Arthoniales. The Arthoniaceae is the largest family of Arthoniales, with around 800 species. Most species in Arthoniaceae belong in '' Arthonia'' which is ...

. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, containing the single species ''Briancoppinsia cytospora'', a

lichenicolous fungus A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific to ...

that parasitises lichens, as well as ''

Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets ...

'', '' Lepra'', and ''

Lecanora conizaeoides ''Lecanora'' is a genus of lichen commonly called rim lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichens in the genus ''Squamarina'' are also called rim lichens. Members of the genus have roughly ci ...

'', among others. The species was first described scientifically by Léon Vouaux in 1914 as ''Phyllosticta cytospora''. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

in 2012 by Paul Diederich, Damien Ertz, James Lawrey, and Pieter van den Boom. The genus was named for

Brian John Coppins Brian John Coppins (born 1949) is a botanist and lichenologist, considered a world authority on crustose lichens and a leading expert on the genus '' Micarea''. Education Coppins' interest in lichens was sparked during a field trip to the Scot ...

, who is, according to the authors, an "eminent British lichenologist and expert of lichenicolous fungi". Its

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

is reminiscent of '' Phoma cytospora'', a lichenicolous coelomycete found on several genera of lichens. However, ''B. cytospora'' has several distinct characters, both anatomical, chemical and within DNA sequence that characterised it as a different species.

References

Arthoniaceae Arthoniomycetes genera Lichenicolous fungi Taxa described in 2012 {{Arthoniomycetes-stub