Enterographa Micrographa

''Enterographa'' is a genus of lichens in the family Roccellaceae. These lichens grow as thin, paint-like crusts on tree bark that range in colour from off-white and pale grey to dark olive-green or brown, sometimes breaking into networks of tiny, flat blocks. They reproduce through tiny slits or dots embedded in the crust that contain spindle-shaped spores divided into multiple cells, distinguishing them from other similar-looking bark lichens.

Description

''Enterographa'' species grow as thin, paint-like crusts that either lie smoothly on the bark or break into a network of tiny, flat blocks (). Colours range from off-white and pale grey to dark olive-green or brown, and neighbouring colonies often form mosaic patterns separated by a narrow, grey-to-black —the band of purely fungal tissue at the thallus edge. Because the crust is not layered, the algal partner ('' Trentepohlia'') sits directly beneath the surface and lends a faint orange hue where the thallus is scratched. A few species are lichenicolous, living on other lichens; in these the parasite produces only its reproductive bodies and lacks a thallus of its own. Thin-layer chromatography shows a variable secondary chemistry: some taxa contain acids such as confluentic, gyrophoric, protocetraric or psoromic, while others appear chemically inert.

The sexual fruit bodies are tiny slits or dots immersed in the crust. They range from pin-prick pores to short, narrow that can be straight, gently curved or, rarely, star-shaped. Their exposed are flat and brown-to-black, never dusted with the pale frosting () seen in certain related genera. The surrounding wall () remains thin and stays buried in the thallus, so only the opening is usually visible from above. Inside, the spore layer (hymenium) is threaded by very slender filaments (paraphyses) that branch and fuse near the top but lack the swollen tips typical of many other crustose lichens. Each ascus is long and narrow, splitting open to release either four or eight spindle-shaped ascospores. A microscopy stain with iodine picks out a tiny, dark blue ring around the at the ascus apex, while the rest of the apex often turns pale blue. The spores are colourless, multi-celled (three to sixteen internal walls) and gently tapered at both ends.

Asexual reproduction occurs in microscopic, flask-shaped pycnidia embedded in the crust; these appear as minute, pale-brown specks. Inside, cylindrical conidiogenous cells bud off colourless, rod-shaped conidia that escape through a small pore and help the fungus spread independently of its algal partner. Together, the combination of an immersed thallus lacking a cortex, slit-like apothecia with an inconspicuous wall, very thin paraphyses, iodine-reactive asci and multi-septate spores distinguishes ''Enterographa'' from superficially similar crusts on tropical and temperate bark.

Species

, Species Fungorum (via the Catalogue of Life) accepts 66 species of ''Enterographa''.
*'' Enterographa albopunctata''
*'' Enterographa aldabrensis''
*'' Enterographa bagliettoae''
*'' Enterographa bella''
*'' Enterographa bengalensis''
*'' Enterographa bradleyana'' – United States
*'' Enterographa brezhonega''
*'' Enterographa caudata'' – United States
*'' Enterographa chiodectonoides''
*'' Enterographa compunctula''
*'' Enterographa confusa''
*'' Enterographa crassa''
*'' Enterographa cretacea'' – Australia
*'' Enterographa deslooveri'' – Papua New Guinea
*'' Enterographa diederichiana'' – Zambia
*'' Enterographa divergens''
*'' Enterographa dokdoensis'' – South Korea
*'' Enterographa elaborata''
*'' Enterographa elixii''
*'' Enterographa epigraphis''
*'' Enterographa epiphylla''
*''Enterographa falcata''
*'' Enterographa fellhaneroides''
*'' Enterographa glaucotremoides''
*'' Enterographa hainanensis''
*'' Enterographa hutchinsiae''
*'' Enterographa incognita''
*'' Enterographa inthanonensis''
*'' Enterographa johnsoniae''
*'' Enterographa kalbii''
*'' Enterographa keylargoensis''
*'' Enterographa kinabaluensis'' – Kota Kinabalu
*'' Enterographa lecanoracea''
*'' Enterographa lichexanthonica''
*'' Enterographa lueckingii''
*'' Enterographa meklitiae''
*'' Enterographa membranacea''
*'' Enterographa micrographa''
*'' Enterographa multilocularis''
*'' Enterographa murrayana'' – United States
*'' Enterographa nicobarica'' – India
*'' Enterographa nitidula'' – United States
*'' Enterographa oregonensis''
*'' Enterographa osagensis''
*'' Enterographa pallidella''
*'' Enterographa paruimae''
*'' Enterographa perez-higaredae''
*'' Enterographa pertusarioides''
*'' Enterographa pitardii''
*'' Enterographa punctata''
*'' Enterographa rotundata''
*'' Enterographa seawardii''
*'' Enterographa serusiauxii''
*'' Enterographa seychellensis''
*''Enterographa sipmanii''
*'' Enterographa sorediata''
*'' Enterographa subcervina''
*'' Enterographa subgelatinosa''
*'' Enterographa subquassiicola''
*'' Enterographa tanzanica''
*'' Enterographa tropica''
*'' Enterographa vezdae''
*'' Enterographa wijesundarae'' – Sri Lanka
*'' Enterographa zephyri''
*'' Enterographa zonata''

References

Cited literature

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q5380235

Roccellaceae
Arthoniomycetes genera
Lichen genera
Taxa described in 1825
Taxa named by Antoine Laurent Apollinaire Fée