''Dyplolabia afzelii'' is a species of

corticolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

(bark-dwelling),

script lichen A script lichen, or graphid lichen, is a member of a group of lichens which have spore producing structures that look like writing on the lichen body. The structures are elongated and narrow apothecia called lirellae, which look like short scribbl ...

in the family

Graphidaceae The Graphidaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Graphidales. The family contains nearly a hundred genera and more than 2000 species. Although the family has a cosmopolitan distribution, most Graphidaceae species occur in tropic ...

. It has a

pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical' ...

distribution. The lichen has a

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 ...

with colours ranging from yellow to pale olive

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...

, dark brownish tan, or grey, characterised by its smooth texture and considerable thickness. Its ascomata are (elongated with a slit-like opening), often raised from the thallus surface and concealed under a powdery white layer.

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 ...

by the Swedish lichenologist

Erik Acharius Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus. Life Ac ...

in 1814, as a member of the genus '' Graphis''.

Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo (13 May 1824 – 25 May 1860) was an Italian paleobotanist and lichenologist. He was born in Tregnago in the Province of Verona and took a great interest in botany as a young man. Massalongo joined the faculty of med ...

transferred it to the genus '' Dyplolabia'' in 1854.

Description

The lichen species ''Dyplolabia afzelii'' is characterised by a

with a range of colours from yellow to pale olive

, dark brownish tan, or grey. The texture of the thallus is smooth and it has a considerable thickness.

transferred it to the genus '' Dyplolabia'' in 1854. The

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body (sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded ascus, asci, each of which typically contains four to ...

(spore-producing structures) of ''Dyplolabia afzelii'' have a form, meaning they are elongated with a slit-like opening. These ascomata measure between 1 and 6 mm in length and 0.2 to 0.7 mm in width. They are mostly simple in form but can occasionally be branched or forked. These structures are raised from the surface of the thallus, displaying various shapes such as straight, curved, or . They are scattered across the thallus and are usually completely concealed under a thick powdery white layer of , revealing a black colour only where this layer is worn away. The ascomata terminate in a blunt end, and their narrow, slit-like are not visible from the surface. The (the outer layer of tissue surrounding the ascomata) is intact at the base and (blackened) along the sides, converging at the top. It is enveloped by a thick layer that extends to the apex. The , the topmost layer within the ascomata, is greenish-brown to dark brown and measures 14–28

μm The micrometre (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 unit of length in the International System ...

in thickness. The

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the f ...

, which are filamentous structures within the ascomata, are simple, long, thin, and

septate In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatrial se ...

(segmented), with thickened ends. The asci (spore-bearing cells) are cylindrical and typically contain eight spores each. The ascospores themselves are

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

al in shape and consistently have three cross-septations, measuring 14–20 by 6–8 μm. They do not react to iodine

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the Microscope, microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissue (biology), tissues), in cytology (microscopic ...

. Chemically, this species is identified by the presence of

lecanoric acid Lecanoric acid is a chemical produced by several species of lichen.ubChem - Lecanoric acid"> Lecanoric acid is classified as a polyphenol and a didepside, and it functions as an antioxidant. It is an ester of orsellinic acid with itself. The acid ...

Distribution

The lichen is found in Australia, Mexico, South America, the Caribbean, India, Thailand, and the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in eastern North America.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10478159, from2=Q59503802 Graphidales Lichen species Lichens described in 1814 Lichens of Australia Lichens of the Caribbean Lichens of India Lichens of Mexico Lichens of South America Taxa named by Erik Acharius