''Pseudocyphellaria glabra'' is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling),

foliose lichen Foliose lichen is one of the morphological classes of lichens, which are complex organisms that arise from the symbiotic relationship between fungi and a photosynthetic partner, typically algae. This partnership allows lichen to live in divers ...

in the family

Peltigeraceae The Peltigeraceae are a family of lichens in the order Peltigerales. The Peltigeraceae, which contains 15 genera and about 600 species, has recently (2018) been emended to include the families Lobariaceae and Nephromataceae. Many Peltigeraceae ...

. It has a pale-green upper

thallus Thallus (plural: 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. Many of these organisms ...

surface, a white

medulla Medulla 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 ovary * Medulla of ...

and white

pseudocyphella Pseudocyphellae (singular ''pseudocyphella'') are structures in lichens that appear as tiny pores on the outer surface (the cortex of the lichen. They are caused when there is a break in the cortex of the lichen, and the medullary hyphae extend ...

e (tiny pores for gas exchange).

Distribution

''Pseudocyphellaria glabra'' has a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

that is separated by the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. The lichen is found in southeastern Australia (including

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

), New Zealand, Argentina, Chile,

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland ...

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 19 ...

, and the subantarctic islands of New Zealand. Population genomic analyses suggest that lichens from these different locations are genetically distinct, but regular long-distance dispersal of spores during the Quaternary probably prevented the local populations from evolving into distinct species.

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described in 1844 by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

and Thomas Taylor as a member of the genus ''

Sticta ''Sticta'' is a genus of lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in tropical areas, and includes about 114 species. These lichens have a leafy appearance, and are colored brown or black. ''Sticta' ...

''. Their original report recorded occurrences from the

Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands ( Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Islan ...

Campbell Islands The Campbell Islands (or Campbell Island Group) are a group of subantarctic islands, belonging to New Zealand. They lie about 600 km south of Stewart Island. The islands have a total area of , consisting of one big island, Campbell Isl ...

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubou ...

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

, and

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

(modern-day Tasmania).

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 sporophores ...

transferred 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 ...

to the genus ''

Pseudocyphellaria ''Pseudocyphellaria'' is a genus of large, leafy lichens that are sometimes referred to as "specklebelly" lichens.Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. ''Lichens of North America''. Yale University Press: New Haven. The genus ha ...

'' in 1948. It has acquired many

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly 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 ...

in its

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. A ...

history.

Ecology

Arthonia pseudocyphellariae ''Arthonia'' is a genus of lichens in the family Arthoniaceae. It was circumscribed by Swedish botanist Erik Acharius in 1806. It is a genus of thin crustose lichen of widely varying forms, commonly called comma lichens.Field Guide to Califo ...

'' is a

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 ...

that has been recorded parasitising ''Pseudocyphellaria glabra''. The fungus, first recorded from specimens collected in New Zealand, causes patches that are bordered by a

necrotic Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, or trauma which result in the unregulated dig ...

zone measuring in diameter, and usually located on the margins of the host

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10642908 glabra Lichen species Lichens described in 1844 Lichens of the subantarctic islands Lichens of Australia Lichens of New Zealand Lichens of Argentina Lichens of Chile Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker Taxa named by Thomas Taylor (botanist)