''Follmannia'' 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 ...

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 ...

-forming

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family (biology), family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class (taxonomy), class Lecanoromycetes in the division (botany), division Ascomycota. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, althoug ...

. It has three species. All three species are

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

s, and all occur in South America.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 1967 by

Carroll William Dodge Carroll William Dodge (January 20, 1895 – July 21, 1988) was an American mycologist and lichenologist. His major fields of study included human and mammalian parasitic fungi, lichen-associated fungi, and fungi forming subterranean sporophore ...

, with the Chilean ''

Follmannia rufa ''Follmannia'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species. All three species are crustose lichens, and all occur in South America. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed in 1967 by Carroll William Dodge ...

'' assigned as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. ''Follmannia'' is in the subfamily Teloschistoideae of the family

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 ''Follmannia'' has a

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 ...

growth form characterized by well-developed, elongated, predominantly narrow, and slightly raised . These lobes often have a subtle shine. The

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

, the outer layer of the lichen's body, is complex, composed of intricately arranged cells, and is accompanied by a thick . The

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 ...

, the innermost part of the thallus, is densely packed. The reproductive structures, known as

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 ...

, have a distinctive appearance. They are in form and feature intricately arranged prosoplectenchymatous tissue in the form of a thick . Within these apothecia, spores are present, characterized as

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 ...

in shape and having a structure. These spores are relatively small and contain short to medium

septa SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

, or partitions. , which are specialized structures responsible for

asexual reproduction Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the f ...

, are not commonly found in this lichen. When present, they are slightly protruding from the thallus. Within these pycnidia, conidia, or elongated rod-shaped spore-like structures, are present.

Fragilin Fragilin is a chemical compound of the anthraquinone class. It has the molecular formula and is a chlorinated derivative of parietin. In 1965, it was reported as a constituent of the lichens ''Sphaerophorus fragilis'' and ''Sphaerophorus corall ...

is the only

lichen product Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deri ...

known to occur in the genus.

Species

Species Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (Binomial nomenclature, scientific names) in the fungus Kingdom (biology), kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partn ...

(in the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxono ...

) accepts three species of ''Follmania'': * ''

Follmannia orthoclada ''Follmannia'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species. All three species are crustose lichens, and all occur in South America. Taxonomy The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1 ...

'' – Chile * ''

Follmannia suborthoclada ''Follmannia'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species. All three species are crustose lichens, and all occur in South America. Taxonomy The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1 ...

'' - Chile Arup and colleagues suggest that ''Follmannia rufa'' is a taxonomic

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''F. orthoclada''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q26202435 Teloschistales Teloschistales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1967 Taxa named by Carroll William Dodge