''Allographa aptrootiana'' is a species of

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 scribble ...

in the family

Graphidaceae The Graphidaceae are a family of lichens in the order Ostropales. Distribution and ecology The vast majority of Graphidaceae species are restricted to the tropics. Most Graphidaceae species are epiphytic (i.e. they grow only on plants). Gene ...

that is found in tropical Africa. It was formally described as a new species in 2014 by Dries Van den Broeck,

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist. He is a leading expert on foliicolous lichens–lichens that live on leaves. Life and career Born in Ulm in 1964, Lücking earned both his master's (1990) and PhD degree (1994) at the Univer ...

, and Damien Ertz. The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

is Yaengo (

Orientale Province Orientale Province (French: ''Province orientale'', "Eastern province") is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary c ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

; here it was found growing on the bark of an unidentified tree species in an

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperat ...

. The lichen somewhat resembles ''

Graphis tetralocularis ''Graphis tetralocularis'' is a species of crustose lichen in the family Graphidaceae. Found in Rwanda, it was formally described as a new species in 2005 by Christina Bock and Markus Hauck. The type specimen was collected by the first author fr ...

'' in overall

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

, but unlike that species it has a completely carbonized (blackened) excipulum, and does not produce the secondary compound

atranorin Atranorin is a chemical substance produced by some species of lichen. It is a secondary metabolite belonging to a group of compounds known as depsides. Atranorin has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antioxidant ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

specimen is parasitised with ''

Etayoa trypethelii ''Etayoa'' is an ungulate of the family Carodniidae in the order Xenungulata that lived during the Early Eocene (~ 55 Ma) in northern South America. Etymology The genus of the type species ''Etayoa bacatensis'' was named by palaeontologist Ca ...

'', a widespread tropical

lichenicolous fungus A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific t ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''aptrootiana'' honours

André Aptroot André Aptroot ( Heemskerk, 1961) is a Dutch mycologist and lichenologist. In 1993 he did his PhD at the University of Utrecht under the supervision of Robbert Gradstein (nl). His dissertation was titled "Systematic studies on pyrenocarpous l ...

, "in recognition of his many contributions to tropical lichenology". The

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

was transferred to ''

Allographa ''Allographa'' is a genus of script lichens in the family Graphidaceae. It has nearly 200 species. Formally circumscribed in 1824 by François Fulgis Chevallier, ''Allographa'' was formerly included in ''Graphis'', but was upgraded to generic st ...

'' in 2018 following a reinstatement and reorganization of that genus.

References

aptrootiana Lichen species Lichens described in 2014 Lichens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Taxa named by Robert Lücking {{Ostropales-stub