''Cyphelium'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
crustose
Crustose is a Habit (biology), habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the Substrate (biology), substrates at all poin ...
areolate
Lichens are symbiotic organisms made up of multiple species: a fungus, one or more photobionts (an alga and/or a cyanobacteria) and sometimes a yeast. They are regularly grouped by their external appearance – a characteristic known as their gro ...
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
s with cup-like
apothecia
An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. As ...
filled with
soot
Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...
y black spores.
[Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, ] The genus is in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Caliciaceae
The Caliciaceae are a family (taxonomy), family of mostly lichen-forming fungus, fungi belonging to the class (taxonomy), class Lecanoromycetes in the division (mycology), division Ascomycota. Although the family has had its classification chan ...
. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in north and south
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
regions, and contains about 12 species.
Members of the genus are
commonly called soot lichens.
[
]
Species
*'' Cyphelium brachysporum''
*'' Cyphelium brunneum''
*'' Cyphelium chloroconium''
*'' Cyphelium inquinans''
*'' Cyphelium karelicum''
*'' Cyphelium lecideinum''
*'' Cyphelium lucidum''
*'' Cyphelium marcianum''
*'' Cyphelium notarisii''
*'' Cyphelium pinicola''
*'' Cyphelium sessile''
*'' Cyphelium tigillare''
*'' Cyphelium trachylioides''
References
Gallery
Image:Cyphelium_inquinans-3.jpg, '' Cyphelium inquinans''
Image:Cyphelium_tigillare-2.jpg, '' Cyphelium tigillare''
Caliciales
Lichen genera
Taxa described in 1815
Taxa named by Erik Acharius
Caliciales genera
{{Caliciales-stub