''Cora boleslia'' is a species of

basidiolichen Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the Division (taxonomy), division Basidiomycota within the subkingdom Dikarya of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Fungus, Fungi. They form a diverse yet much smaller group of lichens than the far more commo ...

in the family

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family (biology), family of fungi in the order (biology), order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (th ...

. It was

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 2016 by

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist, known for his extensive research on foliicolous lichens (lichens that live on leaves) and his significant contributions to the taxonomy, ecology, and biodiversity of fungi and lichens. He e ...

, Eduardo Morales, and Manuela Dal Forno. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''boleslia'' refers to the type locality in Bolivia as well as the second name of mycologist

David Leslie Hawksworth David Leslie Hawksworth (born 1946 in Sheffield, UK) is a British mycologist and lichenologist currently with a professorship in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Madrid, Spain and also a Scientific Associate of The Natural History Mu ...

. The lichen is known to occur only in mountainous

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s of the central

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, where it grows on twigs in partial shade.

Taxonomy

''Cora boleslia'' is a

in the family

(order

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

). It was described in 2016 by

, Eddy Morales, and Manuela Dal Forno from a single collection made near Incachaca in the

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

region of Bolivia's Central

. The

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

merges the country of origin (BOLivia) with David Hawksworth's middle name, Leslie. Phylogenetic analyses based on

ITS ITS, its or it's may refer to: Language * It's, an English contraction of ''it is'' or ''it has'' * Its (pronoun), the possessive form of the pronoun it * Itsekiri language (ISO 639 language code its), a language found in Nigeria and the Niger De ...

sequences show that the species forms its own well-supported lineage with a placement

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to, but distinct from, '' C. aspera''. This genetic singularity reinforces the idea that Andean uplift has driven extensive diversification within the genus.

Description

The

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 ...

of ''Cora boleslia'' is

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

and

foliose A foliose lichen is a lichen with flat, leaf-like , which are generally not firmly bonded to the substrate on which it grows. It is one of the three most common lichen growth forms, growth forms of lichens. It typically has distinct upper and lo ...

, forming rosettes up to 5 cm across on shaded twigs. It comprises two to five semicircular lobes, 1–2 cm wide and 0.7–1.5 cm long, which remain unbranched and lack radial sutures. When fresh the upper surface is a uniform aeruginous green, even and , with thin, inward-rolled () margins that soon fade to grey in the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

; no concentric undulations develop. Drying renders the surface gently wrinkled (. The lower face lacks a (it is ) and shows a whitish, felty-arachnoid

medulla Medulla (Latin for "marrow") or medullary may refer to: Science * Medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem * Renal medulla, a part of the kidney * Adrenal medulla, a part of the adrenal gland * Medulla of ovary, a stroma in the center of the ...

. Vertical sections are 150–200

micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...

s (μm) thick. A viaduct-shaped upper cortex, 20–30 μm deep, overlies a 30–50 μm zone of loosely hyphae. The , 50–80 μm thick, is aeruginous throughout, while the medulla, 20–50 μm, is

hydrophobic In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the chemical property of a molecule (called a hydrophobe) that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water. In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, thu ...

and bears numerous -to- hyphae 2–3 μm wide.

Clamp connection A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of basidiomycete fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), rece ...

s are absent, and no

hymenophore A hymenophore refers to the hymenium-bearing structure of a fungal fruiting body. Hymenophores can be smooth surfaces, lamellae, folds, tubes, or teeth. The term was coined by Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an ...

was observed in the available material.

Thin-layer chromatography Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatography technique that separates components in non-volatile mixtures. It is performed on a TLC plate made up of a non-reactive solid coated with a thin layer of adsorbent material. This is called the sta ...

detected no

secondary metabolite Secondary metabolites, also called ''specialised metabolites'', ''secondary products'', or ''natural products'', are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, archaea, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved ...

Habitat and distribution

''Cora boleslia'' is known only from the type locality in humid

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

rainforest at about 2,200 m elevation in the Central Andes of Bolivia. It grows epiphytically on slender twigs under partial shade, where persistent cloud cover, high moisture, and moderate temperatures prevail. The even, hydrophobic thallus surface may aid rapid shedding of water in these mist-laden forests, while the absence of concentric undulations distinguishes it from similarly coloured Andean members of the genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107589563 boleslia Lichen species Lichens described in 2016 Lichens of South America Basidiolichens Taxa named by Manuela Dal-Forno Taxa named by Robert Lücking